Garden City, N.Y. -- 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). 

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. 

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About Adelphi University Athletics
Adelphi University joined the Northeast-10 Conference in the fall of 2009 and in the past six seasons has collected 16 regular season conference titles, 20 tournament championships, 27 individual crowns and captured the Northeast-10 President's Cup twice (2013 and 2014), while winning five NCAA Division II National Championships.

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