Sixth-seeded York pulled off the 3-2 upset over third-seeded Frostburg State while fourth-seeded Mary Washington defeated fifth-seeded St. Mary's, 3-1, in Tuesday's CAC Volleyball Tournament first-round action.

The Spartans and Eagles advance to Thursday's conference semifinals.  YCP will take on second-seeded Stevenson while UMW will challenge top-seeded regular-season champion Salisbury.  Both matches begin at 7 p.m.

Thursday's winners will meet Saturday at the home court of the highest-seeded team to play for the 2011 CAC title and an automatic bid to the 2011 NCAA Tournament.

At Frostburg, Md., in a rematch of last year's CAC Tournament semifinal thriller, Frostburg State and York faced one another again in the 2011 version of the tournament. This time around, York pulled out a 3-2 victory in the first round.  The win pushes the Spartans (16-16) into the semifinals at Stevenson and ends the Bobcats' season at 15-20.

York rebounded from an early 1-0 deficit with back-to-back wins in the second (25-21) and third sets (28-26). YCP then held off a late charge in the fifth set for the match victory.  Frostburg grabbed the first set 27-25. Neither team led by more three points, until FSU assumed a 24-20 lead. The Spartans battled back to tie the contest at 25-25, but the hosts posted the final two points for the win.

The Spartans captured game two behind a .243 hitting percentage, their best of evening. York took a 2-1 lead behind a narrow 28-26 victory in the third set. The game was tied five times in the waning minutes until York posted the final two points for the win.  FSU hit .250 in the fourth set and allowed YCP to close within one point at 22-21. Freshmen Morgan Hoover and Nicole Absher hit back-to-back kills for a 24-21 edge. Absher then teamed with sophomore Victoria Veirs for a block to gain the final point and the win, 25-21.  The Spartans appeared to have game five wrapped up early as they raced out to a 7-0 lead. Frostburg closed the gap to 7-5 and later narrowed the score to 9-8. But York pushed the lead back to three points, 12-9, and later won 15-12.

At Fredericksburg, Va., UMW juniors Karissa Herrick and Ellen Smethurst each scored eight kills to lead Mary Washington to a 3-1 win over St. Mary's in the first round of the CAC Tournament. Set scores were 25-21, 25-21, 21-25, 25-14.  Herrick had eight kills with no errors in 24 attempts, and also added three total blocks and three aces. Smethurst had eight kills and three total blocks. Sophomore Kaitlynn Wickersham had seven kills, 15 digs and three aces. Senior Katie Shiflett had 20 assists and Sammy Hogue added 13 for UMW, while Christine Tran had 17 digs.