Garden City, N.Y. - The second-seeded Adelphi University volleyball team was upset in the semifinal round of the Northeast-10 Championship on Friday night inside the Center for Recreation and Sport by third-seeded American International College in five sets.
Down 2-1 in the match, the Panthers (26-6) put together one of their best sets of the season to force a fifth thanks to a 25-9 final decision. Adelphi cranked 11 kills to just one attack error and held the Yellow Jackets (21-10) to a -.156 hitting percentage, handing the visitors their second-lowest set score of the year in the fourth.
Nonetheless, a pair of blocks for the AIC front line at 2-2 helped the visitors claim a lead they would never relinquish in the fifth set, and though the Brown and Gold saved two match points in the final set, a kill for Andrea Serra sent the third seeds into Saturday's championship by a final score of 25-20, 22-25, 25-18, 9-25, 15-12.
Madison Canestrari tied a career-best with 10 blocks in the match overall (2S, 8A) to tie an Adelphi single-game record for the third time in her career. The senior, who also notched 10 blocks against AIC on Oct. 17, 2015, shares that mark with Kaitlyn DeStefano ('15) and Jenna Sweeney ('03).
Canestrari added six kills, while the Adelphi attack was paced by a combined 25 for
Sara Bisbe (13) and
Cara McKenzie (12).
Grace Wegmann dished off 43 set assists, while NE10 Libero of the Year
Katarina Warburton tallied 25 digs.
For AIC, NE10 Player of the Year Jana Potic led all players with 15 kills, leading four Yellow Jackets with at least 10. Serra added 14 kills with 14 digs for a double-double, while NE10 Setter of the Year Dolores Kopren dished off 48 assists and notched 13 digs.
Ranked No. 2 in the last edition of the NCAA Division II East Region rankings, Adelphi awaits a possible at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament next week. The Panthers ranked second behind regional leaders New Haven, who were upset in the quarterfinal round of the NE10 tournament.
About Adelphi Athletics
Adelphi University joined the Northeast-10 Conference in the fall of 2009, and in the past nine seasons, has collected 28 regular season conference titles, 30 tournament championships, 41 individual crowns and captured the Northeast-10 Presidents' Cup four times (2013, 2014, 2016 and 2017), while winning six NCAA Division II National Championships.
For the latest on Adelphi University Athletics, follow the Panthers at www.aupanthers.com or via social media on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, and Snapchat.
