Garden City, N.Y. - The Adelphi University volleyball team will advance to the semifinal round of the Northeast-10 Conference Tournament this weekend, after defeating the University of New Haven in straight sets on Thursday evening. 

The Panthers hit .307 as a team and held the Chargers to a mere .090 hitting percentage for the match, with a 44 to 24 advantage in kills. 

Adelphi (20-7) leapt out to a 7-3 lead in the opening set and extended the lead to 13-4 in the early going. The Chargers managed to cut the Panther advantage to three but the home team never relinquished the lead en route to closing out a 25-18 win. Lilyen McCarthy collected the set-winning kill, after a perfect pass from Macarty McQueen set up Brenna Valsted. 

Samantha Meehan capped a three-point run for the hosts to lead 16-10 in the second frame, but New Haven came back to come within three. A kill from McQueen and a block from Samantha Collins pushed the Panther advantage to seven, with the hosts closing out a 25-16 win with four of the final five points. 

Adelphi wasted no time in the third, reaching a 9-2 score after a kill from Alberda, which the Chargers came back from and landed within three once again. New Haven held the advantage in blocks in the match, but after a stop from McCarthy and Valsted, Adelphi extended its lead to 15-8. McCarthy rattled off a service ace that pushed the Panther lead to eight, and the visitors registered some untimely miscues that forced them to reach a negative hitting percentage in the final set. 

The Panthers will now travel to Springfield, Mass. to compete at top-seed American International. The Yellow Jackets defeated Franklin Pierce in straight sets to remain the host institution for the weekend. Adelphi will take on Southern Connecticut on Saturday, Nov. 12. Time of the semi-final matchup is still to be determined.