Sophomore Kirsten Arvidson posted 12 kills and a .391 hitting percentage for the Skyhawks. (PHOTO BY Bert Lane)

Panthers advance to championship match for second time in three years

Adelphi (21-7, 12-3 NE-10) advances to tomorrow's NE-10 Championship match where it will face the winner of tonight's second semifinal between eighth-seeded University of Massachusetts Lowell (13-10, 8-7 NE-10) and fourth-seeded College of Saint Rose (17-8, 11-4 NE-10) here at Merkert Gym at 5 p.m. Stonehill (27-6, 14-1 NE-10), which saw its bid to set a new single-season record for wins stalled, awaits word on an at-large bid to the NCAA Division II Championships to be announced on Sunday at 10 p.m. The selection show will air live via www.ncaa.com, with links also available via www.stonehillskyhawks.com.

Juniors Chelsea Overholt (Centrevilla, Va./Flint Hill School) and Samantha Rico (Port Jefferson, N.Y./Vandermeulen) led the way for Adelphi, who also reached the NE-10 title match in 2009 and dropped a 3-2 thriller to UMass Lowell. Overholt notched a double-double with 11 kills, committing just one hitting error on 35 total attacks (.286 hitting percentage) and 12 digs to go with two blocks. Rico posted a team-high 13.5 points as she also tallied 11 kills, with just three errors on 27 attacks (.296), five blocks and four digs.

Freshman Emily Iverson dished out 36 assists and added 11 digs. (PHOTO BY Bert Lane)

Sophomore setter Katie Bryson (Massapequa, N.Y./Massapequa) engineered the offense as she tallied 36 assists with four kills and three digs. Senior libero Bianca Hernandez (East Moriches, N.Y./Westhampton Beach) contributed a match-high 19 digs, while junior Emily Dorko (Matamoras, Pa./Delaware Valley) chipped in eight kills and freshman Kaitlyn DeStefano (Farmingdale, N.Y./Farmingdale) had a match-high six blocks.

Senior Laura Huselton posted her 1,000th career kill in the first set tonight and finished with 15 digs. (PHOTO BY Bert Lane)

Adelphi posted nine blocks in all for the match and posted a .198 team hitting percentage, compared to a .148 hitting percentage for Stonehill, with three blocks.

Sophomores Kirsten Arvidson (Andover, Mass./Andover) and Sydney Maxey (Hutto, Texas/Hutton) led the attack for Stonehill. Arvidson had a match-high 12 kills, with just three errors on 23 total attacks (.391), while Maxey posted 11 kills, eight digs and two blocks.

Freshman setter Emily Iverson (Elmhurst, Ill./York) dished out a match-high 36 assists for Stonehill, adding 11 digs and three kills. Junior libero Erin Kelly (Tinley Park, Ill./Marist) registered a team-best 18 digs, while sophomore Jessica Frankowski (Unionville, Conn./Farmington) chipped in 12 digs.

Senior Laura Huselton (Penfield, N.Y./Penfield) contributed 15 digs and three kills for Stonehill, including the 1,000^th kill of her career. Earlier this season Huselton also notched her 1,000^th career dig in a 3-0 win at Saint Michael's College on September 24.

Rico and Dorko both had four kills to lead the Adelphi attack in set one, with the Panthers hitting .257 as a team and posting three blocks. The Panthers used a 6-3 run in the second set after the Skyhawks evened the match at 14-14 on a Maxey kill to open a 20-17 lead after a kill from Dorko. Adelphi closed the set out with a kill from senior Patawe Simms (East Patchogue, N.Y./Bellport) and a Stonehill attack error.

Adelphi roared out to a 6-1 lead in the decisive third set on junior Bree Popham's (Crestview Hills, Ky./Notre Dame Academy) serve, with Overholt, Rico and DeStefano posting kills during that stretch. Stonehill responded and closed within 12-11 on an Arvidson kill. The Skyhawks drew even at 16-16 on a kill by Maxey, but they couldn't take the lead as Adelphi closed the match out with a 9-2 run, getting four points on junior Alexandra Kahen's (Lake Ronkonkoma, N.Y./Sachem North) serve and then the final three on Overholt's serve, capped by another Skyhawks error. The Panthers hit .217 in the final set, let by six kills from Overholt, compared to .102 hitting for Stonehill.