COLLEGE PARK, Md. - The Maryland water polo team is gearing up for the 2012 CWPA Eastern Championship which will be held Friday through Sunday in Providence, R.I.

The 14th-ranked Terps (17-6) captured the CWPA Western Division regular-season title and secured the fourth seed at the Eastern Championship.

Maryland will face the winner of fifth-seeded and 17th-ranked Hartwick (26-11) and 12th-seeded Notre Dame College (6-16) at 5 p.m. Friday in the second round.

The Terps were scheduled to face 13th-seeded Salem International (0-19) at 10:20 a.m. Friday in the opening round, but the Tigers were forced to withdraw from the tournament Wednesday because they were unable to field a complete team.

Regardless of whom Maryland plays, head coach Carl Salyer likes the way his team has prepared for the tournament.

"I'm feeling really good," the eighth-year coach said. "We've had two real good weeks of practice. The girls are playing well and I like our chances."

With a berth in the NCAA Championship on the line, Maryland will look to its senior leadership to help it improve on last year's third-place showing which was tied for the best in school history (also 2009).

"Defensively, with [senior] Shelby Reyes in the goal, we'll need a big weekend from her. She's always been what I call a gamer," Salyer said. "You always need good senior leadership. Carly Hoshko and Christine Goetsch I'm sure are going to step up big and lead the way. They've been here before, and they've played this tournament three times. We've been on the verge, so I think their experience is certainly going to help us."

The Terps have a number of offensive threats, but junior Allison Campbell leads the team in goals (50) and points (71), as well as steals (61).

"Allison Campbell is a leader in the pool by the way she plays and can really take over a game," Salyer said. "It's really going to be a team effort. That's our best asset, is playing together as a team, so we're looking for big weekends and big games from our freshmen on up to the seniors this week."

The tournament, which is being held at Brown University, continues on Saturday and Sunday, and the championship game is set for 4:30 p.m. Sunday.

No. 10-ranked Michigan (21-11), which claimed the CWPA Western Division tournament crown, is the top seed in the now 12-team field.

No. 13 Princeton (25-4) won the Southern Division tournament title and is seeded second. No. 12 Indiana is third. The top three seeds earned first-round byes.

The first-place team in the CWPA Eastern Championship received an automatic bid to the eight-team NCAA field.

Click here for ticket information and video streaming of the event.

For in-game updates, follow the Maryland water polo team on twitter.