Senior captain Sydney Maxey hit .424 with 15 kills and 14 digs as Stonehill earned a 3-2 comeback win over Bentley tonight.

Skyhawks advance to face Merrimack on Friday night

WALTHAM, Mass. (November 19, 2013) – The sixth-seeded Stonehill College volleyball team fought off a 2-0 set deficit and two match points in the fourth frame to complete a stunning 3-2 (23-25, 19-25, 25-20, 27-25, 15-12) comeback victory over the third-seeded Bentley University Falcons tonight in the quarterfinal round of the Northeast-10 Championship at the Dana Athletic Center.

With the win, Stonehill advances to the semifinal round of the conference tournament for the seventh time in program history, where the Skyhawks are set to take on seventh-seeded Merrimack College on Friday night. Merrimack advanced tonight after upending second-seeded The College of Saint Rose, 3-2. The University of New Haven will host the semifinal and final rounds of the NE-10 Championship, as it is the highest remaining seed.

Senior captain Sydney Maxey (Hutto, Texas/Hutto) led Stonehill with a monster performance, as she hit a team-best .424 with a match-high tying 15 kills to go with 14 digs and three blocks. Sophomore outside hitter Delia Phillips (St. James, N.Y./Smithtown East) recorded 15 kills and nine digs, and senior captain Kirsten Arvidson (Andover, Mass./Andover) added 13 kills and two blocks to help fuel Stonehill's comeback.

Defensively, senior libero Jessica Frankowski (Unionville, Conn./Farmington) racked up a match-high 33 digs, and freshman Taylor Stevens (Foster, R.I./Ponaganset) contributed 14 as well.

Junior middle blockers Meaghan Lee (Hanover, Mass./Notre Dame Academy) and Mary-Kate Catton (San Diego, Calif./Academy of Our Lady of Peace) combined for 14 kills and eight blocks, and junior setter Emily Iverson (Elmhurst, Ill./York) led all players with 47 assists to go with nine digs.

Sophomore outside hitter Delia Phillips recorded 15 kills and nine digs tonight.

Bentley was led by junior outside hitter Tatiana Froehlich (Newton, Mass./Newton North), who posted a double-double with 13 kills and 12 digs. Sophomore outside hitter Jaci Buscher (Lakewood, Colo./Green Mountain) added a double-double of her own, with 15 digs and 10 kills, and junior Kaleigh Sullivan (Naples, Fla./Harley School) contributed 12 digs for the Falcons.

Stonehill lost an early opportunity to gain control of the match, as the Skyhawks let a 15-11 lead slip away and Bentley won the opening frame, 25-23. The Falcons then went up two sets to none after hitting .297 to Stonehill's .179 in the second frame. The Skyhawks responded in the third set, as Maxey's five kills and four digs sparked Stonehill to a 25-20 win.

Trailing 24-23 in the fourth set with the season on the line, Maxey evened the score with a kill from Iverson. After surviving another match point, Stonehill forced a fifth set on a kill by Phillips followed by an attack error on Buscher.

In the deciding frame, Stonehill built a 6-3 lead, before Bentley stormed back with five straight points to go up 8-6 as the teams switched sides. With the set tied at 12, consecutive attack errors by Froelich pushed Bentley to the limit, and Arvidson put an exclamation point on the comeback with a match-ending kill.

Stonehill (18-13, 10-5 NE-10) will take on Merrimack (16-14, 10-5 NE-10) on Friday night at 7:30 p.m. in New Haven's Charger Gymnasium in West Haven, Connecticut. A webcast will be available free of charge on northeast10.tv for those who will not be in attendance. In the other semifinal matchup, top-seeded New Haven will face off with fourth-seeded Adelphi University at 5 p.m.

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