ROCKVILLE CENTRE, N.Y. – A standout season for the Bentley University women's volleyball team came, which included Northeast-10 Conference regular season and tournament championships, came to a disappointing end Friday afternoon when the second-seeded Falcons were upended by seventh-seeded Holy Family University, 3-1, in the NCAA Division II East Regional quarterfinals at Molloy College's Quealy Hall.

Bentley, 26-6, took the opening set in impressive fashion, 25-18, but the next three belonged to Holy Family by the scores of 25-19, 25-23 and 25-15.

Senior Dani Milner (Plano, Texas/The Greenhill School) led Bentley with 12 kills, 13 digs, two blocks, an ace and 14 points. Classmate Rachel Bruno (San Diego, Calif./Francis Parker School) also had a solid performance as she hit .368 with nine kills and two blocks.

The day started on a promising note for the Falcons as they turned in their best hitting set of the match in the opener. The Falcons committed only two attack errors and hit .302 in the set. In the contrast, they swung at just an .074 success rate the rest of the way with 22 errors

In the opener, Bentley seized control with a 9-3 burst that produced a 19-12 lead.  Five different players had kills during that run, including sophomore Shannon Kgo (San Rafael, Calif./Terra Linda HS) with two.

After the 25-9 Tigers closed to within 21-18, Bentley put the set away with kills from freshman Ingrid Murphy (Cotuit, Mass./Barnstable HS), Bruno and Milner, and a shared block by Bruno and Milner.

Holy Family, which will face third-seeded Bridgeport in Friday's semis, jumped out to a 21-15 lead in the second on the strength of a 6-1 run and wound up outhitting the Falcons in the set 12-8. It was another run, this time 6-0, which put the Philadelphia school in control of the third, 13-8.

Bentley ran off three straight points to draw within one at 24-23, but Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference Player of the Year Casey Covington (Delmar, Md.) put down a set-clinching kill.

In the fourth, Holy Family scored the first eight points and finished the match by scoring seven of the final ten points. In between, the Falcons never drew closer than five.

"Holy Family did a great job today," said Bentley coach Joey Pacis. "We had a hard time getting kills. They played incredible defense."

Freshman Allyssa Hartney (Garnet Valley, Pa.) led HFU with 15 kills and five blocks, anCovington followed with 12 kills and nine digs.

Murphy led Bentley in digs (16) and also had nine kills. Senior setter Xio Lopp (Kalispell, Mont./ Flathead HS) surpassed 1,000 assists for the season and contributed 35 assists, eight digs, three kills and two aces.

Statistically, Holy Family finished with the advantage in hitting (.169-.137), kills (49-45) and aces (9-3).

"This season was a big step for Bentley volleyball moving forward," said Pacis. "Our seniors set a great example for our other classes. The future is bright."