Newark, Del. - The Adelphi University volleyball team traveled to Newark, Delaware on September 20 to take part in the Wilmington University Wildcat Regional Invitational. The Panthers faced Millersville and the host Wildcats on day one, picking up a five set win over Millersville (27-25, 25-23, 23-25, 20-25, 18-16), but falling in five to Wilmington (22-25, 26-24, 25-27, 25-20, 10-15). With the split Adelphi is now 3-5 on the season.

Adelphi vs. Millersville

Kaitlyn DeStefano and Haley Blunt led the Adelphi offense with 14 and 12 kills respectively, while Sierra Crook had 24 digs and Blunt completed her double-double with 16. Katie Bryson posted 34 set assists to help Adelphi to the win.

In their first match of the day, the Panthers and Marauders battled in a very competitive first set that saw 16 ties and eight lead changes. Both teams hit the ball very well as Millersville posted a .235 hitting percantage and Adelphi topped it with a .250 mark. The Brown and Gold held the biggest lead at three points when it was 18-15. At one point, the Panthers led 21-19 before Millersville gained some momentum and went on a 5-2 run to take a 24-23 lead. That was one of two times MU took the lead late but the Panthers kept clawing back and eventually won the heated first set, 27-25.

Adelphi pushed out a 13-6 lead in set two and led by seven again at 22-15. However, an 8-2 run by the Marauders cut the score to 24-23 but the Panthers won the set 25-23 with a kill on the next point.

The Brown and Gold started the third set with another big run, this time to the tune of 15-6. The Marauders then scored seven straight points and trailed AU 13-15. The biggest lead from then on for the Panthers was four,  20-16 but a 9-3 run won the set 25-23 for Millersville.

In the fourth set, there were six ties in the first 18 points and the teams were even at 9-9. MU then took the lead and never relinquished it to win the set 25-20 and send the match into a fifth and deciding set. The fifth set saw eight more ties, the final one being 16-16. Two attack errors by the Millersville sealed the match win for the Panthers.

Adelphi vs. WIlmington

Kaitlyn DeStefano and Mandy Stanislovaitis led the Panther attack with 11 kills each, while Haley Blunt added 10. Sierra Crook picked up a team-high 29 digs as Blunt was credited with 18 and Stanislovaitis had 12 and Katie Bryson managed 32 set assists.

Adelphi opened the contest strong, moving out to a 10-7 lead on a kill by Shelby Stoner, but the Wildcats would chip away at the Panther advantage, eventually picking up a 25-22 win. Game two saw Wilmington put Adelphi in a 16-9 hole, but a kill by Ajsha Mekulovic kill sparked a game ending 17-8 run that knotted the action at one game apiece, 26-24.

Wilmington attemped to put game three away early, sprinting out a an 8-0 lead, but Adelphi clawed their way back into the game, out scoring the Wildcats 18-10 and tying the game at 18 on a block from Colleen Raga and DeStefano. Unfortunately the Panthers would run out of steam, dropping the game 27-25. But, the Brown and Gold woudl rebound in game four, picking up a 25-20 victory to force a deciding game five.

The fifth set was tight early, but the host Wildcats slowly pulled away, taking five of the final seven points to hand Adelphi a 15-10 set loss and a 3-2 match loss.

Up Next
The Panthers return to action on Saturday, September 21 when they close out the Wildcat Regional Invitational with contests against Holy Family and NYIT.