Tatiana Froehlich
Tatiana Froehlich

Bentley Rallies Past Adelphi in Five to Move into Tie for First

GARDEN CITY, N.Y. –Senior outside hitter Tatiana Froehlich (Newton/Newton North HS) matched her career-high with 19 kills and classmate Alex Tator (Los Angeles, Calif./Marlborough School) delivered 52 assists as Bentley University overcame a 2-0 deficit to outlast Adelphi University in five in Northeast-10 Conference women's volleyball Saturday afternoon at the Center for Recreation and Sports. Scores were 20-25, 20-25, 25-19, 25-16 and 15-12.

The Falcon come-from-behind win, coupled with Saint Anselm's stunning upset of New Haven created a three-way tie for first in the conference. With each having two NE-10 matches remaining in the regular season, Bentley, New Haven and Stonehill are all 10-2 in conference play.

  In the decisive fifth set, it was back-and-forth. Bentley scored the first three points, Adelphi came back with a 5-1 spur to go up one, the Falcons regained the advantage at 10-7 and the Panthers followed with four straight to go up 11-10.

The next three points went up on the Bentley side of the scoreboard on a kill by sophomore Ashley Latimer (Croton on Hudson, N.Y./Croton Harmon HS), a block by senior Simone Silvera (Bolingbrook, Ill./Bolingbrook HS) and an ace from senior Lauren Colasanti (Northville, Mich./Northville HS).

After an Adelphi kill interrupted the Falcon run, back-to-back kills by Froehlich closed out the match.

Bentley's comeback began with the Falcons vaulting out to a 6-1 lead in the third, a spurt that included two kills apiece from Silvera and sophomore Lauren Van Buren (Massapequa Park, N.Y./ Massapequa Post HS). The Panthers got as close as one but could never overtake the visitors.

The fourth featured another 6-1 start, and in that one, Adelphi never threatened, trailing by a dozen at 16-4.

Froehlich, in addition to 19 kills, also had seven digs and two blocks. Van Buren followed with 12 kills, and junior Jaci Buscher (Lakewood, Colo./Green Mountain HS) provided eight kills, along with 14 digs.

Bentley finished with a total of 97 digs, including 24 by Colasanti, 19 from junior Jessica Segal (West Harrison, N.Y./Harrison HS) and 12 by freshman Shannon Kelly (Hyde Park, N.Y./Franklin D. Roosevelt HS). There were also nine blocks with Latimer, Silvera and senior Kaleigh Sullivan (Naples, Fla./Harley School) each making four.

Bentley, ranked fourth in the NCAA Division II East Region, improved to 15-9 overall and 14-4 against regional competition. Adelphi, the number five team in the regional rankings, dropped to 13-12 overall and 10-3 conference.

Bentley will close out the regular season next weekend with home matches against Le Moyne and Saint Rose.