WALTHAM, Mass. – After dropping the first two sets, sixth-seeded Stonehill College battled back to take the next three, including a 15-12 decision in the decisive fifth, to upset third-seeded Bentley University, 3-2, in the quarterfinals of the 2013 Northeast-10 Conference Women's Volleyball Championships Tuesday night at the Dana Center.

Following the 23-25, 19-25, 25-20, 27-25, 15-12 victory, Stonehill (18-13) will advance to face seventh-seeded Merrimack College in a semifinal match Friday at New Haven. Bentley finished its season at 17-10 with half the losses coming in five sets.

It was a back-and-forth fifth set with Stonehill jumping out to a 5-2 lead. Bentley countered with a 6-1 spurt to go up two, but fell behind again when the Skyhawks answered with their own 6-1 run, making it a 12-9 deficit.

A block and a kill by junior Tatiana Froehlich (Newton/Newton North HS), followed by a Stonehill attack error, evened the set at 12-12, but that would do it for the Falcons. Two attack errors and a match-ending kill from senior Kirsten Arvidson (Andover) capped the comeback win for the Skyhawks and avenged a 3-1 loss to the Falcons a week ago.

Junior Kaleigh Sullivan (Naples, Fla./Harley School (N.Y.)) sparked Bentley early, making seven of her 12 kills in the opening set. The second was a back-and-forth affair, with 16 ties and 10 lead changes before the Falcons put it in their favor with a 9-3 closing run. Froehlich had three kills during that stretch.

Five kills in nine swings by senior Sydney Maxey (Hutto, Texas) sparked Stonehill in the third, and the Skyhawks tallied the final three points to stay alive in the fourth, 27-25. Bentley had leads of 24-23 and 25-24, but match point was elusive.

Froehlich led Bentley in kills with 13 and added 12 digs and four blocks, with the double-double her fifth. Sophomore Jaci Buscher (Lakewood, Colo./Green Mountain HS) also had a double-double (10 kills, 15 digs, 3 blocks), and both Simone Silvera (Bolingbrook, Ill./Bolingbrook HS) and Savannah Dominguez (Miami, Fla./Palmer Trinity HS), a pair of juniors, had nine kills. Silvera had the best hitting day of the five with at least nine kills, finishing at .471, and she also made seven blocks.

Junior setter Alex Tator (Los Angeles, Calif./Marlborough School) topped 1,000 assists for the season and 2,000 for her career as her night included 42 assists, 13 digs and six kills. Bentley also received 28 digs and three aces from junior libero Lauren Colasanti (Northville, Mich./Northville HS).

Maxey and sophomore Delia Phillips (St. James, N.Y.) each recorded 15 kills for Stonehill, and senior Jessica Frankowski (Unionville, Conn.) made 33 digs.