Oct. 17, 2009

Box Score

Waltham, MA - Sophomore Patawe Simms (East Patchogue, N.Y.) closed out the match with her 15th and 16th kills of the night, giving Adelphi University a hard-fought 3-2 victory over Bentley University in Northeast-10 Conference women's volleyball Friday night at the Dana Center.

All three Adelphi wins in the match came by two points, 26-24 in the first, 25-23 in the second and 16-14 in the finale. Bentley had forced the fifth set by taking the third and fourth sets, 25-22 and 25-20.

The victory kept Adelphi tied for first in the Northeast-10, boosting the Panthers to 8-0 NE-10 and 17-6 overall. Bentley, with its fourth straight loss, dropped to 11-10 overall and 6-3 in the conference.

Adelphi got off to a hot start in the fifth and decisive set, scoring the first three points, two on service aces by junior Heather Mau. The Panther lead peaked at four, 6-2, before the Falcons battled back to tie the set at 9-9. The Falcons went in front for the first time at 13-12 on a block by senior Kristine Mickelson and were a point away from taking the match, leading 14-13.

A Bentley ball handling error tied the set at 14, the 41st time in the match the score was even, and Simms gave her team the victory with back-to-back kills.

The first two sets were up for grabs as the first was tied at 24-24 before Adelphi claimed the final two points. The Falcons were within one several times in the second, the last time at 24-23, before a Simms kill put Adelphi up 2-0.

Simms, who hit .577 with only one error in 26 swings, was one of three Adelphi players with at least 12 kills. Junior Hilary Pavels had 15, along with 19 digs, and freshman Chelsea Overholt added a dozen. Amy Williams, Mau and Bree Popham all chipped in double digit dig totals as they collected 17, 12 and 12 digs each, Mau also had 52 assists on the night.

Adelphi, currently ranked fourth in the NCAA Division II Regional poll, returns to action on Saturday, October 17 when they travel to North Easton, Massachusetts to take on Stonehill College.