GARDEN CITY, N.Y. -- With a 2-1 lead in the match and a 9-4 advantage in the fourth set, it looked like the Bentley University women's volleyball team was well on its way towards advancing in the Northeast-10 Conference quarterfinals.

However, Adelphi University had other ideas and went on to outscore the visiting Falcons 36-16 the rest of the night. That turnaround gave the third-seeded Panthers a five-set victory over sixth-seeded Bentley and likely ended the season for coach Sandy Hoffman's club at 17-14. Match scores were 27-25, 23-25, 23-25, 25-10 and 15-5 as the two rivals went to five sets for the fifth straight match.

The senior duo of outside hitter Hilary Pavels (North Woodmere, N.Y.) and setter Heather Mau (Honolulu, Hawaii) powered Adelphi to the victory with Pavels registering 20 kills, 16 digs and two aces and Mau contributing 50 assists, six digs and a couple aces.

Senior middle hitter Alaura Berry (San Diego, Calif./Rancho Bernardo HS), whose .356 career hitting percentage is the best in Bentley history, and senior setter Kelly Mee (Ivyland, Pa./Council Rock North HS) led the way for the Falcons. Berry hit .407 with 15 kills, and Mee finished with seven kills in 14 attempts, 34 assists, four aces and 16 digs.

Most of the rest of the team struggled with their hitting, combining for 29 kills and 34 attack errors.

Bentley seemed headed towards a first-set victory after a run of eight straight points produced a 17-11 lead. Adelphi slowly battled back, but the Falcons still were up at 20-16 and 23-21 before the Panthers used a 6-2 spurt to take a 1-0 lead in the match.

After gaining control of the match with back-to-back 25-23 wins in the second and third sets, Bentley started fast in the fourth.  However, Adelphi changed the momentum and grabbed the lead with seven straight points, and pulled away with another 6-0 spurt that made it 19-12.

Adelphi scored the first two points in the fifth set and opened leads of 4-1, 7-2, 9-3 and 14-4 before a Mau-set kill by Samantha Rico (Port Jefferson, N.Y.) ended the match and probably, Bentley's season. The Falcons were 10th in last week's NCAA Division II East Region rankings and only the top eight are chosen.

Senior setter Maitlyn Kraft (New Braunfels, Texas/St. Mary's Hall) had a strong game on defense for Bentley, finishing with 22 digs, and sophomore middle Bridget Lawson (Glen Ellyn, Ill./ Glenbard West HS) made eight blocks, along with seven kills.

Adelphi (19-10) will meet Pace on Friday in the NE-10 semifinals, with host and regular season champion New Haven facing Stonehill in the other semi.

Adelphi def. Bentley 27-25,23-25,23-25,25-20,15-5

Bentley (17-14) (Kills-aces-blocks) - Alaura Berry 15-0-1; Ashley Ahearn 9-0-4; Andrea Farah 8-0-2; Kelly Mee 7-4-1; Bridget Lawson 7-0-8; Morgan O'Laughlin 3-0-1; Kristina Wilson 1-1-0; Virginia Wong 1-0-0; Totals 51-5-10.0. (Assists) - Kelly Mee 34. (Dig leaders) - Maitlyn Kraft 22; Kelly Mee 16; Kristina Wilson 8

Adelphi (19-10) (Kills-aces-blocks) - Hilary Pavels 20-2-2; Emily Dorko 15-0-1; Chelsea Overholt 9-0-1;  Samantha Rico 8-0-2; Colleen Raga 7-0-3; Patawe Simms 3-0-0; Heather Mau 1-2-1; Bree Popham 0-1-0; Totals 63-5-7.0. (Assists) - Heather Mau 50. (Dig leaders) - Alexandra Kahen 19; Bree Popham 18; Hilary Pavels 16

Site: Garden City, N.Y. (CRS)

Date: Nov 09, 2010   Attend: 124   Time: 1:52   

Referees: Hana Milord, Andy Echeguren

Adelphi advances to the Northeast-10 Semifinals