Radnor, Pa. - The Marywood University volleyball team fell in four hard-fought sets to top seed Cabrini University in the semifinals of the first ever Atlantic East Conference playoffs. Despite taking the first set, the Pacers lost by scores of 25-27, 25-13, 25-21, and 25-14.
Peri Sheerin finished with 12 kills and a .140 attack percentage.
Sara Burgos managed a double-double with 25 assists and 11 digs.
Jordan Vossler contributed 17 digs.
The Pacers went on the offensive early in the first set and quickly jumped to the lead. A strong string of kills and service aces saw the Pacers lead by as much as eight points at 19-11. The Cavs quickly rebounded with a strong attack of their own to take the lead at 23-22. The two teams would trade blows back and forth as they headed into extra points, but a kill by
Nicole Cashman followed by a service ace from
Annie Heyen would seal the set for the Pacers. This would be the first lead for the Pacers over the Cavs this year, having dropped their regular season contest in a lopsided 3-0 (25-15, 25-7, 25-14).
The opening moments of the second set proved to be a stalemate as the teams fought to 6-6. From there, the Cavs took over, with an attack that included a run of nine straight points to go up 22-9. Though the Pacers would try to pull things back, a service ace from Steph Judkins would take the set for Cabrini.
Like the second set, the third began as a neck and neck race, with neither team taking a lead by more than three points until the Cavs, leading 15-12, mounted another assault to bring the score to 23-18. The Pacers answered with a run of three consecutive points to bring it within two; however, following a Cabrini timeout, the Cavs took two straight points off of a kill and an attacking error to take a two sets to one lead.
In the fourth set, the Pacers jumped to an early lead, but were never able to break away from the pursuing Cavs, who stayed within two points until 11-11. From there they made another mid set push of six unanswered points to take the lead 17-11. The Pacers fought back to 17-14, but the top seeds ended the match with a run of seven straight points, capped off by a kill from Judkins, to advance to the title match where they will face Marymount.
Though the two teams had a similar offensive effort, with Marywood making 153 attacks with 27 errors compared to Cabrini's 152 attacks with 26 errors, the Cavs were able to more easily find the holes in their opponent's defense, recording 50 kills with a .158 attacking percentage versus 34 kills with a .046 attacking percentage for the Pacers. The Cavaliers proved steadier on defense, making 79 digs and seven blocks, while the Pacers only made 62 digs and five blocks.
Heyen earned the highest attacking percentage of the match with a .500.
Mikayla Attwood lead the team in blocks with three.
Cabrini University will welcome No. 2 Marymount University for the Atlantic East championship on Saturday evening.
