EASTON, Mass. – Up 2-1 in the match but a Skyhawk point away from having to play a decisive fifth set, Bentley University used a 9-1 explosion to prevail 27-25 in the fourth set and put away Stonehill College, 3-1, in Northeast-10 Conference women's volleyball Tuesday evening at Merkert Gymnasium.

The 25-17, 21-25, 25-20, 27-25 victory, Bentley's sixth in its last eight matches, assured the Falcons (16-8, 10-2 NE-10) of a first-round home match in next week's Northeast-10 Conference Championships and kept the squad in sole possession of second place in the conference.

Stonehill had a 24-18 lead in the fourth and had six opportunities at set point. However, Bentley sophomore outside hitter Jaci Buscher (Lakewood, Colo./Green Mountain HS) and her teammates had other ideas and embarked on a run of seven straight points to not only tie the set but to take a 25-24 lead.

The comeback began with a kill from junior Savannah Dominguez (Miami, Fla./Palmer Trinity HS) and continued with a ball handling error by the Skyhawks. Buscher had a hand in the next four points with two kills and two blocks, both shared with junior Simone Silvera (Bolingbrook, Ill./ Bolingbrook HS). That evened the tally at 24 apiece and a Stonehill attack error gave the Falcons their first lead of the set, 25-24.

Following a Stonehill point, Buscher ended the match with her 11th and 12th kills of the night. She also finished with 14 digs and two blocks.

Dominguez, the conference leader in hitting percentage, had another strong performance with 17 kills, five aces, seven digs and two blocks. Junior Alex Tator (Los Angeles, Calif./Marlborough School), the NE-10 Setter of the Week, recorded 38 assists, and the Falcons also received eight kills from junior Kaleigh Sullivan (Naples, Fla./Harley School (N.Y.)).

Defensively, juniors Lauren Colasanti (Northville, Mich./Northville HS) and Tatiana Froehlich (Newton/Newton North HS) had 21 and 17 digs, respectively, and Silvera was involved in six blocks.

For Stonehill (16-12, 8-4 NE-10), junior Emily Iverson (Elmhurst, Ill.) recorded a 41-assist, 10-dig double-double and classmate Taylor Stevens (Foster, R.I.) served four aces.

Bentley will finish the regular season this weekend with matches at Saint Rose Friday and Le Moyne Saturday.