FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 17, 2015
Adelphi, American Int'l, Le Moyne & New Haven Move On
Lower seeds American International and New Haven pulled off upsets, while higher seeds Adelphi and Le Moyne claimed victories in the quarterfinal round of the Northeast-10 Volleyball Championship on Tuesday evening.
All four advancing teams earned 3-1 victories, as sixth-seeded American Int'l took down No. 3 seed Bentley, No. 7 seed New Haven knocked off second-seeded Franklin Pierce, top-seeded Adelphi rallied to beat Southern New Hampshire, and No. 4 seed Le Moyne defeated Saint Rose. The Chargers, Dolphins, Panthers and Yellow Jackets all advance to Friday's semifinals, which will be hosted by Adelphi.
#1 Adelphi 3, #8 Southern New Hampshire 1 | BOX SCORE
GARDEN CITY, N.Y. – Despite dropping the opening set to the #8-seeded Southern New Hampshire University Penmen, the top-seeded Adelphi University volleyball team rallied for the 3-1 victory (22-25, 25-20, 25-15, 25-16) in the quarterfinals of the Northeast-10 Conference tournament on Tuesday night in the Center for Recreation and Sports.
Shelby Stoner paced a well-rounded Adelphi attack on the night, totaling 15 kills and eight blocks to be a force on both sides of the ball. Joining Stoner in double figures was Mandy Stanislovaitis, who tallied a double-double with 14 kills and 13 digs, and McKenna Clawson, who chipped in 10 kills and fell just short of the double-double with nine digs. Megan Manierski piloted the offense to a .290 attack percentage with 48 assists, while Sierra Crook anchored the back row with 25 digs.
The Penmen opened up an early 5-2 lead in the opening set and rarely looked back from there, holding the lead for nearly the entire duration. The visitors' lead grew to five on three occasions, before the Panthers (24-4) began to rally back, knotting the action at 18-18 when Manierski and Stoner blocked back a SNHU offering and taking a 19-18 lead on a Clawson service ace. However, the Penmen scored seven of the final 10 points – behind three kills and four Panther miscues – to wrap up the set, 25-22.
In what was a close second set early, the Panthers went on a 7-1 scoring run midway through to double up SNHU at 14-7 on a Madison Canestrari kill. With Adelphi leading by eight, the Penmen scored the next five consecutive points to pull to within 18-15, but a service error swung the ball back to the Panthers, who squeezed out a 7-6 scoring advantage to claim the second set 25-20 on a Bailey Riedel kill.
After trailing 7-5 early in the third set, a 5-0 scoring sprint capped by an Ajsha Mekulovic ace put Adelphi in the lead for good. Despite being held to just six kills in the set, the Penmen trailed by just four at 19-15, but the Panthers closed out the set with six straight points -- courtesy of five Penmen attack errors, two of which were blocked -- to take the 25-15 set. The final set was all Adelphi, as the Panthers sprinted out to a 9-3 lead that eventually ballooned to a 15-4 cushion. With Adelphi leading 21-8 after a kill from Stoner, eight of the next 11 points in their last stand, but Stanislovaitis sealed the deal with her final kill of the match to send the Brown and Gold into the semfiinals.
#7 New Haven 3, #2 Franklin Pierce 1 | BOX SCORE
RINDGE, N.H. – The University of New Haven volleyball team came out hitting in its Northeast-10 Championship quarterfinal taking down the second seeded Franklin Pierce Ravens in four sets (25-19, 26-24, 23-25, 25-20) on Tuesday night.
Leading the Chargers was graduate middle hitter Micki Impellizeri who finished with a match-best 16 kills and sported a .312 hitting average. Joining her in double figures was junior outside hitter Meghan Kennelly who finished with 12 kills, while Alex Bussey and Kristine Rios joined in the hitting success with seven and six kills respectively. Rios, who led the Chargers with 40 assists, finished with a team-high .385 hitting average with one error in 13 attempts. Defensively, freshman libero Brianna Mirmina led New Haven with 26 digs while Rios joined in the lead with 19. As a team, New Haven finished with 10 blocks, led by Bussey, who closed out the match with six.
After jumping out to a 1-0 lead after taking the first set, 25-19, New Haven erased an early 6-3 deficit in the second set by taking its first lead of the set following a four point rally that began with a kill from Impellizeri. After an ace from Caprisha Richards, kills from Kennelly and Rios capped off the rally and provided the lead change.
Facing set point, the Chargers rallied to score five straight points and earn a 2-0 lead in the match. Kristen Lee began the rally with a kill followed by a hitting error on the Ravens. A kill from Kennelly forced Franklin Pierce to call its final timeout. Coming out of the break, the Ravens would suffer another hitting error which was followed by blocks from Rios and Impellizeri, capping off the comeback rally.
Franklin Pierce edged out the Chargers to take the third set, 25-23, but New Haven battled back in the fourth set. New Haven saw its first lead of the final set come thanks to a four point rally that began with back-to-back kills from Impellizeri and concluded with an ace from Kennelly. The Chargers would use another four point rally to break a 14-14 deadlock, opening up the run with a kill from Bussey. After a block from Kennelly and Bussey, Damianis Eusebio closed out the rally with a kill. The turning point came as the Ravens rallied to tie the set at 20-20 with New Haven coming out of its own timeout with a big time kill from Kennelly. The Chargers would never allow the Ravens to score again with another kill from Kennelly and two more from Impellizeri before an error on Franklin Pierce ended the match.
#6 American International 3, #3 Bentley 1 | BOX SCORE
WALTHAM, Mass. – The American International College volleyball team downed Bentley University Tuesday night in Northeast-10 Championship quarterfinal action at the Dana Center, 3-1.
With the win the sixth seeded Yellow Jackets improve to 14-12 overall and advance to the NE-10 Championship semifinals Friday night.
The Yellow Jackets got out to a fast start in the match, stringing together seven straight points off kills by sophomore Ayana Knowles and a handful of Falcon hitting errors to go up 11-4 and force an early Bentley timeout.
Out of the break, the Yellow Jackets remained on the gas pedal, ending the first set on a 9-1 run. Junior outside Natalija Dordevic tallied three of the nine points in the late going and finished with six kills in the opening set.
In the ensuing set, AIC jumped out once more, capping a 5-1 run with kills by Dordevic and sophomore Mercy Rivera. Senior Franny Sanchez notched two straight service aces to put the Jackets back up six, 20-14.
AIC freshman setter Roxana Wenger known for serving up early set points, did so late in the second. Wenger served up four of the Yellow Jackets final five points, including a service ace and a pair of kills from Dordevic. AIC ended the second much like the first, on an 8-1 run.
The Yellow Jackets needed a 6-1 stretch midway through the third set to bring it back within two points, 12-14. Knowles tallied two kills in the rally, but AIC eventually fell, 15-25.
American International regrouped and exploded for another big run in the fourth, rattling off a 10-3 stretch sparked by a kill from Lauren Pires. Up big late, the Jackets wasted no time finishing off the Falcons, scoring the final four points of the match behind two more from Pires and match-sealing kill from Rivera.
Dordevic paced AIC with 16 kills, Wenger led with 46 assists, while Rivera notched a team-high 16 digs. Jaci Buscher led Bentley with 10 kills and 16 digs.
#4 Le Moyne 3, #5 Saint Rose 1 | BOX SCORE
Syracuse, N.Y. – Freshman right side Jessica Miller registered a career-best 21 kills to lead the Le Moyne College volleyball team to a 3-1 victory over The College of Saint Rose in the Northeast-10 Conference Championship quarterfinals on Tuesday night at Ted Grant Court.
Le Moyne (20-7) advances to the NE-10 semifinals for just the fourth time in the program's 20 years in the conference and for the first time since the 2006 season (head coach Lizzie Cheek's freshman year). The Dolphins will take on top-seeded and host Adelphi University on Friday at either 5:00 p.m. or 7:30 p.m. Le Moyne's 20 wins this season are the most since that aforementioned 2006 season, while the Dolphins are 13 games above .500 for the first time since also having a 20-7 record on November 6, 2004.
As they did during the regular-season matchup on September 22, the Golden Knights claimed the first set, 25-23. Following a 2-2 tie, the Dolphins rattled off eight of the next 10 points. Saint Rose countered with a 9-3 run to even the score at 13-apiece. After Le Moyne tallied back-to-back points, the Golden Knights scored three in a row to take their first lead of the set. Following ties at 16, 17, 18, 21 and 22, the Golden Knights posted back-to-back points to regain the lead for good. After committing an attack error to keep the Dolphins alive, Rachel Salasky ended the set with a kill.
Le Moyne evened the match at one set apiece with a 25-18 victory in the second set. Saint Rose used an 8-2 run to jump out to a 10-6 lead. After creeping within 12-10, Le Moyne tallied seven of the next eight points for a 17-13 advantage. Saint Rose got within 18-17, but the Dolphins countered with five consecutive points and seven of the last eight to close out the set.
The Dolphins kept the pattern from September 22 going by winning the third set, 25-20. After Saint Rose scored two of the first three points, Le Moyne posted four straight points. The Golden Knights answered with a 4-1 spurt to knot the set at seven. Following a 10-all tie, the Dolphins took control of the set with an 8-1 run to take an 18-11 lead. Saint Rose answered back with four in a row to trim its deficit to three and force a Le Moyne timeout. The teams then traded points before Le Moyne scored back-to-back to push its lead back to five. The teams alternated points the rest of the set.
Le Moyne closed out the match with a 25-23 victory in the fourth set. After falling behind 7-3, the Dolphins scored three in a row to get within one. Following back-and-forth play, which resulted in an 11-9 Saint Rose lead, the Dolphins rattled off six straight points to force a Saint Rose timeout. After more back-and-forth play out of the timeout, Le Moyne scored back-to-back points for a 21-15 lead. Saint Rose responded with four 2-0 spurts to get within 24-23, but Miller slammed a kill into the back right corner of the court to end the match.
Junior outside hitter Natalie Casson, the reigning Northeast-10 Player of the Week, landed 13 kills and posted eight digs and four service aces. Sophomore setter Kendall Corcoran, the reigning Northeast-10 Setter of the Week, recorded her 11th double-double of the season with 43 assists and 12 digs. Freshman libero Mikayla Porr led the Dolphins defensively with a match-high 27 digs, while adding three service aces. Maryellen Devic led the Golden Knights in the loss with a double-double of 13 kills and 27 digs, while adding two service aces.
Information for this release provided by the athletic communications/sports information staffs at Adelphi, American Int'l, Le Moyne and New Haven.
Tuesday, November 17th
Quarterfinals - at Higher Seeds
Match 1: #1 Adelphi 3, #8 So. New Hampshire 1
Match 2: #7 New Haven 3, #2 Franklin Pierce 1
Match 3: #6 American Int'l 3, #3 Bentley 1
Match 4: #4 Le Moyne 3, #5 Saint Rose 1
Friday, November 20th
Semifinals - at highest remaining seed following the quarterfinal matches
Match 5: #1 Adelphi vs. #4 Le Moyne (5:00 pm)
Match 6: #6 American Int'l vs. #7 New Haven (7:30 pm)
Saturday, November 21st
Finals
Match 7: Match 5 Winner vs. Match 6 Winner (5:00 pm)
ABOUT THE NORTHEAST-10
The Northeast-10 Conference is an association of 15 NCAA Division II colleges and universities located in New England and New York that is committed to supporting balanced academic and athletic opportunities for more than 6,500 student-athletes.
Each year, 4,500 of those student-athletes compete in conference championships in 24 sports, making the NE-10 the largest DII conference in the country in terms of sport sponsorship. Leading the way in the classroom, on the field and within the community, the Northeast-10 is proud of its comprehensive program and the experience it provides student-athletes.
