Box Score

West Haven, CT - The Adelphi University Volleyball team traveled to West Haven, Connecticut on Thursday, November 17 to participate in the quarterfinals of the NCAA Division II East Regional hosted by the University of New Haven against #5 Stonehill College. The Panthers dropped the first set in heartbreaking fashion, but rallied back to sweep the next three games, 25-15, 27-25 and 25-15 to collect a 3-1 victory. WIth the win Adelphi improves to 23-7 on the season.

Chelsea Overholt led the Panther offense with 14 kills and Kaitlyn DeStefano added 11, while Samantha Rico chipped in nine and Patawe Simms eight. Bianca Hernandez managed to collect 25 digs and Bree Popham picked up 14, while both Overholt and Alexandra Kahen had 11 each. Katie Bryson was the offensive catalyst with 45 set assists and Simms had five blocks and Rico stopped four Stonehill attacks.

The Panthers opened the first game strong, moving out to a 5-2 lead on the back of five errors from Stonehill. However, the Skyhawks would score 18 of the next 24 points to take a 20-11 lead. Adelphi responded by intesifying their play and used an 8-1 run, capped by another Skyhawk error, to pull within two, 21-19. But, that was as close as the Panthers would get in, falling 25-21.

The Brown and Gold came out hot again in game two, sprinting to a 5-0 lead with Bree Popham serving. Adelphi continued to lead mid-way through the second game, taking a 12-8 lead on a Katie Bryson kill. The Panthers would continue to keep the pressure on, forcing a Stonehill timeout with four consecutive points that made the score 21-11 in Adelphi's favor. The Skyhawks continued to fight, but the Panther lead was too much as Adelphi evened the match at 1-1 on a Kaitlyn DeStefano kill, 25-15.

Game three saw Adelphi's trend of opening games fast continue as the Panthers streaked out to a 7-1 lead, thanks in part to kills from Samantha Rico and Chelsea Overholt. This time Stonehill responded by clawing their way back into the game and took a 13-12 lead at the halfway mark on a block. The game remained tight late, as the Skyhawks clung to a one point lead, 20-19, until the Panthers took a one point lead, 22-21 on a Stonehill miscue. Adelphi would turn that into a 24-21 edge, but Stonehill again battled back, knotting the game at 25 all and forcing extra points. However, the Panthers responded quickly, scoring the next two points on kills by Chelsea Overholt and Katie Bryson to take a 2-1 lead.

Adelphi opened up game four in familiar fashion, moving out to a 7-3 lead, but this time Stonehill answered quickly, using a 3-0 spurt to pull within on, 7-6. The Brown and Gold continued to hold tight to the lead midway through game four, when a Chelsea Overholt kill gave Adelphi a four point edge, 13-9 and two more Overholt smashes pushed the Panther edge to 16-9. The Panthers kept the pressure on the Skyhawks and an Emily Dorko kill made the count, 21-13 and pushed Stonehill into a timeout, but the would not slow down Adelphi as a Kaitlyn DeStefano kill off an Erika Loomer set ended the game, 25-15.

With the win the Panthers advance to the NCAA Division II East Regional Semifinals for the second season in a row and will take on top seeded and host New Haven at 7:30 pm in West Haven, Connecticut.