Garden City, N.Y. - After earning the no. 4 seed in the Northeast-10 Conference tournament the Adelphi University volleyball program hosted the fifth-seeded Stonehill Skyhawks Tuesday evening in quarterfinal action.

Despite a valiant game-three effort and closely contested opening sets, the Panthers' (13-15) season came to an end as the visitors advance to the semifinals with a 3-1 victory. 

 Victoria Cast was once again the team-leader in kills with 12, as Leilani Vazquez and McKenna Clawson both accounted for six kills apiece. On defense Katarina Warburton tacked on 23 digs to her career number of 581 after two seasons in the Brown and Gold, as Megan Manierski finished her career with 3,459 assists (30 tonight), ranking her third all-time in the record books. 

Both teams battled back-and-forth in the early going of the opening set, until Stonehill (12-14) committed a 6-1 run to put them ahead. Adelphi slowly chipped away as the Skyhawks continued to run up the score but a home team timeout allowed the Panthers to regroup. From there they earned the next six points to come within one, sparked by a block from Madison Canestrari and Manierski. Unfortunately, the visitors were able to take the first set by a 25-23 final decision after a kill and service error. 

The second set was much like the first - the visitors jumped out to a lead after stringing several points together - but Adelphi put together a 5-2 run of their own to come within three. The Panthers remained behind from there, as two kills from Katherine DeLanty ended the set to give the No. 5 seed a 2-0 advantage in the match.

The hosts pushed out to a 16-12 lead in the third courtesy of a Kiara Stephens kill, an upper hand they were able to maintain throughout the remainder of the set. AU took three of the last four points, following a three-point run from the Skyhawks, to break the sweep and take a set in the contest. 

After an 8-3 start for the Purple and White, a kill from Cast prompted a four-point run that brought Adelphi within two in the fourth. The Panthers remained trailing by as much until four points for the home team knotted the set even at 17-all. Eight of the next 10 points went to the Skyhawks which meant a 25-19 set-four decision gave the match to the lower seed. 

The Panthers cap the 2017 campaign at 13-15 overall with their ninth consecutive appearance in the NE10 tournament. 

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About Adelphi Athletics
Adelphi University joined the Northeast-10 Conference in the fall of 2009, and in the past eight seasons, has collected 25 regular season conference titles, 26 tournament championships, 33 individual crowns and captured the Northeast-10 Presidents' Cup four times (2013, 2014, 2016 and 2017), while winning six NCAA Division II National Championships.

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