Waltham, Mass. - A long day inside the Dana Athletic Center turned longer once Adelphi dug deep to take a five-set match from the fourth-seeded Chargers of the University of New Haven on Thursday evening, in the opening round of the NCAA Division II East Region Tournament.
After an extra-point first set went the way of the Chargers (19-11), the Panthers (23-9) stormed back in the second, taking a 25-16 decision.
Noelle Alberda led the attack in the second frame, notching six kills en route to the team's .410 hitting percentage.
Holding on to the momentum, Adelphi jumped out to a 6-1 advantage in the third and made it a ten-point game following a Charger timeout, as the fifth-seed landed four service aces, two coming from
Anna Oden. Five consecutive serves from Fiser all but sealed the deal for the Cats, as they ultimately used a
Macarty McQueen strike to move ahead in the match following a 25-11 decision.
The script was flipped in the fourth, as New Haven posted their best sideout percentage at 82 percent, while holding Adelphi's attack to a negative hitting mark. In the frame, the Charger front line put together four team blocks that really shut down any momentum the Panthers looked to find.
In a best-of-five meeting - the eighth of it's kind since 2002 - a 7-7 stalemate caused Head Coach
Danielle MacKnight to call a timeout. Regrouping, the teams battled through three more ties, until it was
Jamaya Harris at the service line. A pivotal ace from Harris coupled with a McQueen kill forced Ana Paula Pego to call her own stoppage. Trading points was not enough as Adelphi put together a pair of kills to earn match point at 14-11 with an Alberda strike. In the end it was a shot off the block from McQueen that concluded New Haven's season.
Adelphi is now 4-4 all time against New Haven when going to five sets.
A new career-mark for Fiser is in the books following a single game record of 62 assists, as all five offensive weapons reached double-digit kills. Alberda led the way with 19 on the night, matching her own career-best.
The win marks the Panthers' third consecutive trip to the second round, where they will face the host and top-seeded Falcons from Bentley University on Friday at 7:00 p.m.
