Volleyball Advances to PAC Championship with a 3-1 Win Over Gwynedd Mercy :: Neumann Knight Sarah Miller had 6 kills and 0 errors on 12 attempts for a .500 hitting percentage, while Julia Tarloski had 14 kills and Emilee Gruse had 13 kills. Meghan Wilson had 25 digs in the win and Rachael Sokolovich added 11 kills and 6 digs to help the Knights advance to the PAC Championship.

Neumann Knight Sarah Miller had 6 kills and 0 errors on 12 attempts for a .500 hitting percentage, while Julia Tarloski had 14 kills and Emilee Gruse had 13 kills. Meghan Wilson had 25 digs in the win and Rachael Sokolovich added 11 kills and 6 digs to help the Knights advance to the PAC Championship.

Nov. 2, 2006

Box Score

Gwynedd, Pa.- Neumann College sophomore middle hitter Julia Tarloski (Malvern, Pa.) totaled fourteen kills and eight blocks as the Neumann Knights defeated Gwynedd Mercy College, 3-1, in the Pennsylvania Athletic Conference (PAC) Tournament Semifinal tonight in Gwynedd, Pennsylvania.

The Knights (21-13) and Griffins (18-8) battled throughout a very tight four game match. Neumann's Alyssa Brigg (Rosemont, Pa.) served first, helping her team open the night 3-0 in game one. Julia Tarloski quickly extended the Knights lead to 7-3 after serving up two consecutive aces, before the Griffins called a timeout, in an attempt to break the Knights' momentum. Gwynedd returned to the court and managed to bring the score within one (8-9), but a Sarah Miller (Elkton, Md.) kill helped the Knights keep a slight advantage. However, the Griffins had no plans of going down quietly. Gwynedd Mercy tied the game at 11-11 and took their first lead of the night (13-12) moments later. Nevertheless, Neumann held strong, battling point for point. With the score tied 25-25, Neumann's offense was able to gain the edge, scoring the next five consecutive points to win game one, 30-25.

The Griffins came out firing in game two, taking a 9-3 lead over Neumann right out of the gate. The Knights remained persistent, however, and battled back to a 12-10 game, after receiving a block assist from Sarah Miller and Emilee Gruse (Lafayette, In.), and a solo block from Julia Tarloski. Despite the Knights' efforts, the Griffins managed to hold on to the lead and take game two, 30-19.

After Gwynedd took a 3-1 advantage on the Knights in game three, Neumann's Rachael Sokolovich (Media, Pa.) hit for two consecutive kills, tying the game at 3-3. Both teams battled point for point before Gwynedd managed to pull away 10-7. Tarloski brought the Knights back within one with a solo block, and joined with Jenna Halpin (Gibbsboro, NJ) on a block assist to tie the game 11-11. Neumann battled point for point (16-16), but did manage to pull away, taking their largest lead of the game, (21-16), behind five consecutive kills by multiple hitters. GMC came back, pulling within one of the Knights (24-23), just before Neumann went on a four point run to take a 28-23 lead and eventually take game three, 30-26.

In the final game of the night Gwynedd came out to a 5-2 lead before Neumann's Emilee Gruse tied it up 6-6 with a solo block that sparked the Knights' offense. Neumann went on a 14 point scoring spree to end the game 30-14 and the match 3-1 in Neumann's favor.

#2 Neumann will advance to the PAC Championship on Saturday, November 4, 2006 at 5:00 p.m. The Knights will be hosted by #1 Eastern University in Radnor, Pennsylvania.