FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 20, 2015
Panthers, Chargers Advance to Championship Finals
GARDEN CITY, N.Y. – The top-seeded Adelphi Panthers and seventh-seeded New Haven Chargers advanced to the Northeast-10 Volleyball Championship Match with semifinal victories on Friday night. Adelphi and New Haven will face off at 5 p.m. on Saturday at Adelphi's Center for Recreation and Sport for the NE-10 crown.
The Panthers came back from a 1-0 deficit to defeat fourth-seeded Le Moyne, 3-1, for their 20th straight victory, while New Haven edged out American International in five sets, 3-2.
#1 Adelphi 3, #4 Le Moyne 1 | BOX SCORE
Anchored by 20 kills from Mandy Stanislovaitis, the Adelphi University volleyball team rallied from a set down for the second straight Northeast-10 Championship contest, defeating the Le Moyne College Dolphins to move into the championship match for the second straight season, 3-1 (22-25, 25-17, 25-19, 25-17).
Stanislovaitis led three Panthers in double-figure kills on the night, as Shelby Stoner put down 17 and McKenna Clawson added 10. The junior outside hitter also tallied a double-double as she chipped in 13 digs, while Clawson too added 14. Providing a spark for the Panthers' offense off the bench was Amanda Borges, who tallied nine kills on a .438 hitting percentage in three sets played. Megan Manierski, fresh off of earning Player and Setter of the Year kudos from the conference office, dished out 54 assists while Libero of the Year Sierra Crook tallied 30 digs to lead the back line along with Ajsha Mekulovic (10 digs). Leading the way for Le Moyne was Natalie Casson, who posted 17 kills and nine digs in the defeat.
Adelphi started out the stronger of the two teams, as consecutive kills from Clawson opened up an early 8-4 lead for the Brown and Gold. However, the Dolphins began to swing the momentum in the set in their favor, claiming eight of the next 10 points to lead 12-10. That lead stood for Le Moyne for nearly the entire set, and although the Panthers rallied to tie the score four times late in the set, four kills in the final five points for the visitors gave them the opening set, 25-22.
The Brown and Gold led for nearly the entire second set, as the Panthers put down 15 kills and hit .312 as a team. Opening up an 11-4 lead in the set, the Panthers never led by less than three as it progressed. With the Panthers leading 21-16, Stanislovaitis and Stoner put down three balls while Madison Canestrari and Manierski blocked back another to close out the 25-17 set.
Le Moyne took an early lead to start the third before the Panthers again battled back, and consecutive kills off the hand of Borges gave the Brown and Gold a 13-9 lead and forced Le Moyne to call timeout. From that point, the Dolphins took five of the next six points to knot the set at 14-14, but the Panthers were quickly back in front behind a 6-1 scoring run that saw them 20-15 and hang on for a 25-19 set win.
Like each of the three that preceded it, the fourth set began as a tight affair, but the Panthers ran off five straight points courtesy of a Manierski ace, two kills from Stanislovaitis and another from Canestrari to turn a 12-11 set into a 17-11 one. That lead held up for the duration for the top seeds, and Stanislovaitis knocked home three straight to end the match and send Adelphi into the final.
#7 New Haven 3, #6 American International 2 | BOX SCORE
The University of New Haven women's volleyball team posted a five-set victory over sixth seeded American International to advance to its fifth Northeast-10 championship game. Leading the Chargers to the heart stopping victory was junior Meghan Kennelly who finished with 13 kills, while senior Kristen Lee added 11.
The Chargers opened the match winning the first two sets by scores of 25-23 and 25-18 before AIC forced a fifth, and deciding, set with 25-14 and 25-21 decisions in set three and four. The fifth set would be pushed to seven match points before it was decided thanks to a kill from Kennelly off a feed from freshman setter Kristine Rios. Kennelly joined Micki Impellizeri on a block on the previous point which set up the first and only match point for the Blue and Gold.
The first turning point of the deciding set came at a 6-6 deadlock with a tip over kill from freshman setter Kristine Rios putting energy into the Chargers. Alex Bussey followed that with a kill as the teams switched sides.The Chargers largest lead came on a kill from Kennelly which followed an attacking error on the Yellow Jackets. Kennelly's kill came courtesy of an assist from Damianis Eusebio, resulting in an 11-8 lead. Blocks from Eusebio and Bussey on an extended rally would result in a matching lead at 12-9.New Haven faced six match point scenarios, picking up the point on each of those instances. Included was a pair of kills by Lee and Kennelly and blocks from Bussey, Rios, Kennelly and Impellizeri.New Haven would convert its first match point opportunity, which came thanks to a block on the right side from Impellizeri and Kennelly. The match point came courtesy of a kill from Kennelly which provided a 21-19 final
New Haven finished the match hitting .130 as a team with 48 kills in 177 total attempts. Leading the individual hitting efforts was Bussey who finished with a .312 hitting average on seven kills and two errors in 16 swings. Rios closed out the match with 39 assists, adding four kills.
Defensively, five New Haven players finished with double figure digs, led by Kennelly who finished with 19, her second-straight and 16th double double of the season. Joining her in leading the defensive efforts was Rios, Lee and Brianna Mirmina who finished with 14 digs and Lindsey Kim who chipped in 10. New Haven combined for 13 total blocks, one shy of the season high. Leading the way was Impellizeri who finished with nine, while Rios and Bussey were a part of four blocks each. For the Yellow Jackets, Natalija Dordevic posted 23 kills, while Mercy Rivera added 12 kills and 20 digs and Roxana Wenger had 57 assists.
The Panthers will look to win the NE-10 Championship for the second straight season, while the Chargers will play for their fifth Northeast-10 Championship on Saturday.
Additional information for this release provided by the athletic communications/sports information staffs at Adelphi and New Haven.
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.
