Fort Lauderdale, Fla. - The Adelphi University volleyball team got a combined 60 kills from Mandy Stanislovaitis and Melissa Rigo on day one of the Shark Invitational in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., helping the Panthers to a 1-1 record. In their opening match the Brown and Gold took care of Arkansas at Monticello by the score of 3-1 (25-17, 25-21, 26-28, 25-22), but fell to the hosts, Nova Southeastern, 3-1 (23-25, 18-25, 25-20, 19-25) in their second contest of the afternoon.

Adelphi vs. Arkansas at Monticello
Adelphi came out red hot against Arkansas at Monticello, committing just six attack errors in the first two games while posting hitting percentages of .375 and .333. Their opponents, on the other hand, made 13 errors and could only manage attack percentages of .121 and .167, which the Panthers took advantage of to the tune of two wins, 25-17 and 25-21. 

The third set swung Arkansas at Monticello's way as the Brown and Gold could not find its rhythm, falling behind 10-6 early. However, a late Adelphi rally gave the Panthers a 24-21 edge, but they could not close the doors as the Weevils used a 7-2 run to steal the third game. The Weevils kept the momentum going in the fourth, sprinting out to a 9-4 lead, before a Madison Canestrari block sparked a 9-4 run the other way, as Adelphi knotted the game at 13 on a Katherine Ferris kill. Arkansas-Monticello continued to lead late, 21-18, but the Brown and Gold closed the action with a 7-1 run to secure the win, 25-22.

Rigo and Stanislovaitis led the attack with 18 and 15 kills in the match, while Megan Manierski had a game-high 46 assists. Canestrari had five total blocks, and Manierski and Ferris chipped in three assists each. Rigo, Sierra Crook and Rebeeca Seeba all posted double figure kill totals, 17, 14 and 10, respectively. 

Adelphi vs. Nova Southeastern
Adelphi's contest with Nova Southeastern started off on the rocks, with the Panthers committing 18 errors in the first two games. However, while the hosts also struggled with 13 errors of their own, the Sharks took advantage of the Brown and Gold's early miscues to put the visitors in a 2-0 hole with sets of 25-23 and 25-18.

The Panthers showed signs of life in the third game, jumping out to a 13-7 lead. Adelphi continued to build on their advantage, using a Canestrari kill to push the margin to eight, 16-8, to effectively close the door on the way to a 25-20 third game win. The fourth game went in entirely the opposite direction for Adelphi, as the hosts led 10-2 a third of the way through the set. The Brown and Gold got as close as 23-19, but could not get any closer, falling 25-19. 

Stanislovaitis and Rigo again led the attack with 14 and 13 kills respectively, while Manierski had 40 assists. Crook and Rigo also led the way defensively with 19 and 13 digs to their credit. 

Up Next, Adelphi returns to action on Saturday, September 3 when they take on Saint Leo and Lynn on day two of the Shark Invitational. You can follow all the action live by clicking HERE.

NOTES
- Today's matches were the first in program history against Arkansas at Monticello and Nova Southeastern. 
- This is the fourth time in the past six years that Adelphi has opened the season 1-1 or better (2011, 2012, 2015, 2016)

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About Adelphi Athletics
Adelphi University joined the Northeast-10 Conference in the fall of 2009 and in the past seven seasons, has collected 18 regular season conference titles, 22 tournament championships, 29 individual crowns and captured the Northeast-10 Presidents' Cup three times (2013, 2014, and 2016), while winning five NCAA Division II National Championships.

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