Waltham, Mass. — In its 13th appearance in the Northeast-10, the Adelphi University volleyball team came up short, falling in straight sets to American International College on Friday evening inside the Dana Center at Bentley University.
This was the second meeting between the two teams this season, with the Panthers (24–8) taking the first matchup in three sets on their home court. The second seed was also riding an 11-game win streak heading into the semifinal contest.
The Brown and Gold struggled in the opening set to gain any momentum, while the Yellow Jackets went off for 16 kills and a team hitting percentage of .500. After AIC took a four-point lead at 12–8, they ultimately closed out the set on a 13–4 run to take the first in commanding fashion, 25–11.
The three seed—who leads the country in service aces per set—used five aces to bolster its score in the first and managed to add three more in the second, ultimately finishing the match with 12. Trailing by seven, Delaney Kiendra crushed back-to-back kills to bring the second frame within five, but American International relied on a Panther miscue to stare down set point. In addition to strong serving, the Yellow Jackets capitalized at the net with a 5–2 advantage in blocks and took the second frame, 25–18.
With a similar game flow, the third set resulted in an identical 25–18 score in favor of AIC. Adelphi found itself trailing early and was forced to play catch-up throughout, never getting closer than three points. The Brown and Gold offense remained quiet, accounting for eight kills with six errors in the final frame.
For the match, Kiendra and Macarty McQueen each tallied seven kills and teamed up for four block assists. Mackenzie Casey did her part at the net, collecting a team-leading five block assists, while Ana Carolina Westerich finished the contest with 21 assists.
Adelphi will now await its fate in the NCAA Tournament, with the live selection show on Monday, November 24, at 7:30 p.m. The Panthers were ranked second in the most recent installment of the regional rankings released on Wednesday.
