ALLENTOWN, Pa. – The top-seeded Cedar Crest College volleyball team captured the United East Conference-Skye Division Championship with a 3-1 victory over No. 2 Notre Dame of Maryland University at Lees Gymnasium on Thursday night.

The Falcons won by set scores of 25-17, 20-25, 25-18, and 25-22.

Cedar Crest got out to a 6-3 lead in the first set and the Falcons pushed the margin to eight, 13-5, after an NDMU attack error to cap off a 5-0 run. The Gators answered back with five-straight points of their own to trim the deficit to three, 13-10. Notre Dame got to within five, 19-14, but the Falcons finished on a 6-3 run to win the opening set, 25-17.

In the second stanza, with the Cedar Crest up, 6-5, NDMU rattled off four-straight points to grab the 9-6 advantage. The Falcons won the next five points to regain the lead, 11-9, after a kill from sophomore Ellise Everett (Orlando, Fla./Lake Nona). The home team extended its margin to four, 16-12, but the Gators went on a 9-2 run to make the score 21-18, finished off by a kill from senior Erin Shaw (Baltimore, Md.). Cedar Crest got to within one, 21-20, but NDMU scored the final four points to even the match at one set-all with the 25-20 win.

In the third set, after an attack error by the Falcons made the score 8-7, Cedar Crest went on a 4-0 run, capped by a kill by senior Maddison Minyo (Covington, Pa./North Penn-Mansfield) to push the score to 12-7. The Gators pulled to within one, 13-12, but Cedar Crest responded with a 4-1 spurt to stretch the lead to four, 17-13. NDMU cut it to three later in the set, 21-18, but the Falcons finished on a 4-0 run to snag the set and the 2-1 advantage.

After the Gators jumped out to an 8-3 lead in the fourth set, Cedar Crest went on an 8-0 run to turn a five-point deficit into a three-point advantage, 11-8. Later in the frame, with NDMU up 14-13, the Falcons scored four-straight points to make the score 17-14. The Gators notched three-straight of their own to knot it at 17. The remainder of the set was tight as with the score tied at 22, Cedar Crest scored the final three points to win the set 25-22 and the match.

Minyo led the way for the Falcons with 11 kills, two assists, one service ace, and 17 digs. Senior Ziah Melton (Allentown, Pa./William Allen) added 10 kills, one block, and two digs. Classmate Ava Grapsy (Macungie, Pa./Allentown Central Catholic) had a triple-double of 10 kills, 17 assists, and 11 digs. Junior Alexis Cummins (Stafford, Va./Colonial Forge) chipped in five kills, one block, and a season-high 22 digs. First-year Nikki Blair (Bridgewater, N.J./Bridgewater-Raritan) had a double-double of 21 assists and 11 digs. Sophomore Ellise Everett (Orlando, Fla./Lake Nona) added seven kills, two assists, one service ace, two blocks, and four digs. Junior Akashia Johnson (Baltimore, Md./Baltimore Polytechnic Institute) tallied three kills, one assist, and two digs. Senior Rebekka Sanchez-Castro (Columbia, Md./Atholton) collected a match-high 31 digs to go along with five assists and one service ace.

Cedar Crest (16-8 overall) has advanced to the United East Conference Championship match and will host United East-Volt Division Champion Gallaudet University on Saturday, November 11 at 2:00 p.m.

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