Garden City, N.Y. – Down 2-1 in the match, the Adelphi University volleyball team completed a thrilling 3-2 (25-16, 15-25, 20-25, 25-20, 15-13) comeback victory against Long Island and regional rival NYIT on Tuesday night inside the Center for Recreation and Sports.

Three Panthers tallied double digits in kills on the night as McKenna Clawson led all players with 15, and completed a double-double with 16 digs. Mandy Stanislovaitis and Shelby Stoner chipped in 13 and 12 kills, respectively. Megan Manierski led the Adelphi (10-4) offense with 44 assists, while Sierra Crook led the defense with 24 digs and Rebecca Seeba chipped in 15.

In the opening set, the Panthers jumped out to an opening 6-2 lead and never looked back from there. The Panthers doubled up their first set lead at 14-7, anchored by a pair of kills from reigning Northeast-10 Player of the Week Stanislovaitis, and the Bears (9-2) had few answers against a balanced Panther attack. However, it was Stoner who took center stage to close things out, as she recorded three kills in the final four points to give Adelphi the 25-16 set.

The second set was the opposite of the first, as the Bears jumped out to a quick 8-4 lead on a kill from Kate Brock. From that point, the Bears gained a foothold in the match, and reeled off nine of the next 12 points to expand their lead to 17-11 on a Bailey Riedel miscue. That lead would hold for the Bears for the duration, as they claimed the set 25-15 to level the match.

While the Bears again jumped out to an early lead in the third, leading as much as 15-9, the Panthers rallied to knot the set at 20-20 on a Madison Canestrari kill. A back-and-forth ending could've gone to either team, but consecutive kills from Rachel Guida secured the 2-1 lead for the visitors at 26-24.

With five ties in the early going of the fourth, both teams struggled to gain momentum for an extended period. However, it was soon with the Panthers, and a Bear miscue, Clawson kill and Stoner ace gave the home team a 16-13 as they looked for the tie and forced an NYIT timeout. The Panthers never trailed again from that point, as they claimed the last three points to force a decider, 25-20.

To open the fifth, Adelphi nabbed three of the first four points before the score tied on four separate occasions. A Clawson kill and a Bear miscue gave Adelphi an 8-6 lead at the change of ends, and another NYIT error saw the Panthers lead by three, 9-6. NYIT continued to battle, however, and knotted the score at 11-11 on an attack error. After an Adelphi timeout, the Panthers claimed three straight, setting up match point at 14-11 as Canestrari and Clawson blocked back a Bear offering. Although the first two match points went by, Adelphi would not be denied the comeback as a final NYIT error gave the Panthers the 15-13 set and 3-2 match.

Adelphi returns to NE-10 action on Saturday, October 3^rd as they head to the College of Saint Rose for a 1 pm match. 
 

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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 12 regular season conference titles, 18 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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