The Misericordia University men's volleyball team fell to top-seeded Arcadia University, 3-0, in the Middle Atlantic Conference Semifinals, Wednesday night in Glenside, PA. It was the Cougars' first postseason appearance in the program's two-year history.
The Cougars dropped the first two sets 25-18 and were edged out in the final set, 25-22, after prolonging the contest with three consecutive points.
Ryan Miller, who was recently selected to the MAC All-Conference second-team, led the way for Misericordia with six kills.
Jason Campbell,
Billy Murphy and
Brian Ross were each second on the team with four kills.
Jordan Spidle led the squad with 12 assists while
Dylan Sellitti tallied 10 assists. A first-year setter, Sellitti led the team with two aces while Spidle added one.
Miller was the team's digs leader with six and
Conner Westerfield, who was selected as a MAC All-Conference honorable mention, collected four digs.
After falling behind early in the first set, the Cougars battled back with a 4-1 run midway through the stanza. Misericordia took advantage of two Arcadia attack errors and added points on a Miller kill and a Sellitti ace to pull within one point, 15-14. However, the Knights regrouped and took the opening set with a late surge.
The Cougars took an early lead in the second set. After Murphy tied the game with a kill, the team took an 8-7 advantage with an Arcadia attack error. The Cougars were able to keep things close and force several ties, but couldn't come out ahead.
Misericordia gave the Knights its best shot in the final set. After falling behind 3-1, the Cougars put together four straight points to take a 5-3 lead.
Later in the set, the Cougars fought back into the game with three unanswered points to pull within one point, 19-18, of the Knights. However, Arcadia responded with a 5-1 run to push the Cougars to the brink of elimination.
Campbell kept the Cougars' hope alive with a kill as the squad responded with two more points to prolong the contest. Arcadia eventually put an end to the Cougars' late surge and closed out the match in three sets.
Misericordia fell to 20-16 overall and will await the announcement of the ECAC Tournament bracket, which releases on Monday, April 15.
