Garden City, N.Y. - The 2019-20 season marked our 10th year in the NE10, and to celebrate that milestone, the Adelphi University Department of Athletics is looking back on some of its most iconic moments and accomplishments with the conference.

Entering the 2011 season, the Adelphi volleyball team was celebrating its 20-year anniversary, but had yet to capture that elusive first conference championship.

Until Danielle MacKnight arrived as the program's head coach in 2007, the Panthers had only put together three winning seasons in their history and won one match in the ECC Tournament, with five consecutive first-round postseason exits.

The program gained instant notoriety under MacKnight, as Adelphi won a single-season record 27 matches in her first year at the helm, earning her ECC Coach of the Year recognition. To date, MacKnight's Panthers have posted nine 20-win seasons, with only one losing campaign, in her 13-year tenure.

In 2009, Adelphi made quite a first impression in the NE10 by reaching the final of the conference tournament, only to fall in a five-set thriller to UMass Lowell. 

Two years later, MacKnight's squad overcame a 2-3 start to its season with a stretch of 17 wins in its final 21 regular-season contests. That streak included 12 three-set victories, which carried over into the NE10 Tournament.

As the No. 3 seed in the NE10 Championship, the Panthers ran roughshod over its opposition and swept all three of its opponents in straight sets to win their first-ever NE10 title. Adelphi secured its spot in the NE10 final with a 3-0 takedown of No. 2 seed Stonehill in the semifinal round on the Skyhawks' home floor.

The 2011 Adelphi team remains the most recent team in the NE10's history to not lose a set in any match in the NE10 Tournament.

The championship would spark a run of three NE10 titles in five seasons for the Panthers. Bianca Hernandez was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player, after collecting 57 digs over the three matches.

Patawe Simms and Chelsea Overholt were both named to the NE10 All-Conference Second Team and AVCA All-Region Team in 2011, while eventual AVCA All-America Honorable Mention Kaitlyn DeStefano was an NE10 All-Rookie Team selection.

The Panthers reached the semifinals of the NCAA Division II East Region Championship, before rounding out the year at 23-8 overall. Adelphi also finished 12-3 in NE10 regular-season play and was a dominant 13-2 when defending its home court.