Bentley volleyball heading to the NCAA semifinals

Bentley Athletics press release.

WALTHAM, MA – Bentley advanced to the NCAA semifinals for the first time in program history with a five-set win over No. 1 seed Ferris State on Thursday night.

The Falcons topped the Bulldogs 25-23, 16-25, 25-22, 12-25, 15-13.

Bentley, the East Region champion and No. 8 seed, will face No. 4 seed and South Region champion Lynn University in the national semifinals on Friday at 8 p.m. Eastern.

The Falcons handed Ferris State (34-1) its first loss of the season. They were ranked the No. 1 team in Division II in the final AVCA poll.

Bentley trailed at the start and middle of the fifth set and found itself trailing 10-7. But they fought back to take eight of the last 11 points and win the set and the match.

A 3-1 run by the Falcons brought them to 11-10 after a kill from Caitlin Wunder.

At that point, Elizabeth Blinn went to work with three service aces in a row to put Bentley ahead 13-11.

After a point for Ferris State, a kill from Rachel Vitko put Bentley within 14-12.

The Bulldogs stayed alive on the next point, making it 14-13. But the Falcons tied the game with the next point and secured their spot in the semifinals after an attack error by Ferris State ended the game.

Sophia Poehlein had a co-match high of 19 kills and Rachel Vitko had 16 kills. Tory Vitko had 37 assists and Blinn had a total of six blocks, which is a match.

Bentley started strong, winning the opening set 25-23. The opening point was a kill by Wunder, and after the first 15 points they were on their way to a 10-5 lead. Rachel Vitko, Poehlein, Lauren McCloskey and Tory Vitko scored kills in the early stages.

Ferris State battled back to eventually tie the set at 16-16, and the teams traded points until the score was 20-10. The next two Falcon points went to Poehlein as Bentley led 22-21. After a point from the Bulldogs, a kill by Wunder and an attack error by Ferris State’s Olivia Henneman-Dallape gave Bentley the lead point.

The Bulldogs stayed alive on the next point, but on the next point a kill from Rachel Vitko gave Bentely the first set, 25-23.

In the second set, Ferris State took a 6-1 lead. The Falcons fought back with a 6-3 run to pull to within 9-7, but that two-point deficit was as close as they got for the rest of the set as the Bulldogs tied the game at 25-16 -Winning 1-1 in the second set.

In the third set, the Falcons made a big comeback, winning the set and taking a 2-1 lead.

They were eight points behind at 15-7 midway through the set. But a huge 13-5 run led to the Falcons tying the score at 20-20. Rachel Vitko had three straight kills to start the run and Poehlein had four kills, including the point that tied the set at 20-20.

An attack error against Ferris State gave Bentley a 21-20 lead and completed the comeback. Poehlein scored kills for Bentley’s 22nd and 23rd points of the set and a kill from Rachel Vitko, assisted by her sister Tory, gave them the set point at 24-22.

An attack error by the Bulldogs gave Bentley the set win 25:22.

The Bulldogs never trailed on their way to a 25-12 win in the fourth set, forcing a deciding fifth set.

Lynn University defeated Wingate 3-0 in the quarterfinal game. In Friday’s other semifinal, No. 3 seed Angelo State will face No. 7 seed San Francisco State at 5 p.m.