WALTHAM, Mass. – Senior All-Conference outside hitter Dani Milner (Plano, Texas/The Greenhill School) made a season-high 21 kills and combined with sophomore forward Shannon Ngo (San Rafael, Calif./Terra Linda HS) and senior All-Conference middle Rachel Bruno (San Diego, Calif./Francis Parker School) for 47 kills and only four errors as top-seeded Bentley University outlasted number four Saint Anselm College in five sets in the semifinals of the Northeast-10 Conference Women's Volleyball Championships Friday night at the Dana Center.

The scores were 25-16, 17-25, 22-25, 25-17 and 15-13 as Bentley, 25-5, needed to rally from a 2-1 deficit to punch its ticket to Saturday's championship game against second-seeded American International,, a 3-1 winning over Stonehill. It'll be the Falcons' first appearance in the final since 2014.

The fifth set was even at 13 apiece after the 19th and 20th kill of the night from Saint Anselm junior Elise Jolly (Merrimack, N.H.). Bentley, which had been up 11-8 and 13-11, reclaimed the lead on a Milner kill.

Following a serve from Bentley freshman Ingrid Murphy (Cotuit/Barnstable HS), Jolly hit the ball into the net, giving the Falcons the hard-fought victory.

In the fifth set, which saw six ties and one lead change, Milner had three kills and both Bruno and Murphy had two

Needing a victory to stay alive, Bentley led from the opening serve in the fourth. The Falcons opened with an 8-3 run and scored nine of the final 13 to send it to the fifth. Ngo came up big in the set, with five kills in as many swings.

After eight ties, Bentley closed the opening set with a 16-7 spurt to win convincingly. Milner led the way with five kills in seven attacks.

Milner also put down five kills in both the second and third. However, Saint Anselm had its two best hitting sets of the night, .308 in the second and .279 in the third, to earn the wins and but the Falcon backs to the wall.

Milner, who hit .380 with only two errors in 50 swings, also contributed 15 digs and three blocks. Ngo hit ..489 with 16 kills (matching her career-best) and one error in 32 attacks and also was in on four blocks. Bruno finished with ten kills, a .474 hitting percentage and thee blocks.

Murphy also played well, with 12 kills, two aces and a career-high 22 digs. Lopp, the NE10 Setter of the Year, matched her career-best with 51 assists and completed her 14th double-double with 16 digs.

Bentley outhit the visitors, .269 to .165, with the Falcons making 17 attack errors and the Hawks 30. The Falcons also had the edge in blocks, 8-5.

 Bentley and AIC met twice during the regular season with each winning on their home court. The Yellow Jackets snapped the Falcons' 16-match winning streak two weeks ago and were responsible for Bentley's only loss in the last 21 matches.