EASTON, Mass. – Delia Phillips totaled 22 kills as second-seeded Stonehill College picked up a hard-fought Northeast-10 Women's Volleyball Championship quarterfinal win over No. 7 seed Southern New Hampshire University Tuesday evening at Merkert Gymnasium.  The Skyhawks, who advance to the league semifinals Friday, improve to 21-6, while the Penmen likely see their season come to a close at 17-11, arguably the best season in program history.

The set scores were 25-22, 26-24, 23-25, 27-25.

Phillips also added 17 digs for the Skyhawks, who got 12 kills from Mary-Kate Catton.  Taylor Stevens tallied 16 digs for Stonehill, while Claire Manuszak added 10.  Emily Iverson, the NE-10 Player of the Year, handed out 44 assists.

Southern New Hampshire, which was making its first NE-10 Championship appearance since 2003 and just the second in program history, was led by Nina McGouldrick (Richardson, Texas), who finished with 11 kills and 17 digs.  Marisa Coronis (Hudson, N.H.), the league's Rookie of the Year, also totaled 11 kills, while senior Kendra Mikuta (Orland Park, Ill.) closed out her career narrowly missing out on a triple-double with nine kills, 26 digs and 11 assists.  Maeghan Higgins (Hesperia, Calif.) notched 19 digs, while Catherine Cotton (Murphy, Texas) handed out 39 assists.

After a back-and-fourth opening to the match, Stonehill opened up a 19-14 lead in the first match.  The Penmen used a 7-2 run capped by back-to-back aces by McGouldrick to tie the set 21-21.  Tied 22-22, the Skyhawks recorded the final three points to open up a 1-0 lead.

The Penmen jumped out to a 12-7 lead in the second set before Stonehill closed to within one, 15-14.  SNHU opened an 18-15 lead on a McGouldrick kill, but six straight Skyhawk points allowed the hosts to build a 21-18 lead.  Southern New Hampshire stormed back and took a 24-23 lead on a Carolyn Scacchi (Peabody, Mass.) kill and found itself serving for the set, but two Penmen attack errors and a Stonehill ace gave it a 26-24 win.

In the third set, Southern New Hampshire led 15-7 and appeared to be ready to cruise before seven straight Stonehill points made it 15-14.  The Penmen withstood the rally and built a 24-21 lead, but again serving for the set, gave up two straight points before a Megan Salamun (Scottsdale, Ariz.) kill sealed the set and kept the Penmen alive.

Southern New Hampshire built a 13-8 lead in the fourth set before Stonehill again rallied with five straight points to tie the match at 13.  SNHU eventually eked out a 21-18 lead following a Cotton kill, but the Skyhawks snuffed that one out as well following three straight points.  With the set tied 23-23, Scacchi posted a kill to allow the Penmen to serve for the set and force a deciding fifth set.

Catton tied the set with a kill before the Penmen went back on top 25-24 with a another Scacchi point.  Kelsey Weymouth recorded a kill to tie it 25-25, and a SNHU attack error followed by a Phillips kill sealed the win for Stonehill.

The four-set match saw a total of 36 ties and 12 lead changes, including 13 ties in the fourth set.  Stonehill hit .237 as a team, while the Penmen hit .170.

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