Garden City, N.Y. - In front of its home crowd, the top-seeded Adelphi University volleyball team took a 3-1 victory from no. 8 University of Bridgeport on Thursday evening, in the opening round of the NCAA Division II East Region volleyball tournament. 

With a 9-3 advantage in service aces for the match, the Panthers (26-6) return to the semifinal round for the second consecutive season. Opening the match with two victories - much like in their regular season meeting - the Knights (26-8) came back with a 25-20 victory to keep the game going. Committing just two errors compared to Adelphi's seven, proved to be the difference maker in the third frame. 

As a team, the home squad posted a .389 hitting percentage with 14 kills and no errors. For the fourth, the score became tied on six different occasions with four lead changes as Adelphi closed out a 25-17 victory. 

Led by a 17-kill performance from Samantha Meehan - matching her career high set in 2021 - maybe more impressive was Delaney Kiendra's 15 kills alongside a .519 hitting percentage. On 27 attempts, the Murrieta, Calif. native committed just one error through four sets. 

The AVCA East Region Player of the Year and three time NE10 Libero of the Year, Jamie Yonker finished the contest with 22 digs, matching teammate Brenna Valsted who nailed down a double-double with 53 assists to her name. Also recording a double-double was AVCA All-region honoree Macarty McQueen, who accounted for 14 kills and 29 digs. 

The Knights saw Grace Presswood and Hailey Jessen both reach double-digit kills with 18 and 16, respectively. The Panthers out-dug the eight-seed 90-77 for the match. 

Adelphi will take on #5 Daemen University in the second match of the semifinal round on Friday, Dec. 1 at 7:30 p.m. The Wildcats defeated American International in four sets.