WASHINGTON - Gallaudet University held off a pesky Lancaster Bible College team here Tuesday night in the quarterfinal round of the 2017 North Eastern Athletic Conference (NEAC) women's volleyball tournament. Gallaudet (17-15) won the final two sets to win 3-1 (25-21, 20-25, 25-22, 25-22) over the Chargers (12-20) before a festive Halloween night crowd in the Field House.

Gallaudet, the seven-time defending NEAC champions, advance to the NEAC semifinal round for an eighth straight year and will defend its crown in Reading, Pa., on Saturday, Nov. 4. The Bison will go up against top-seed Penn St.-Berks at a time to be determined. The winner of that semifinal match will face the winner of the second semifinal against Morrisville State College (22-6) and Wells College (19-12).

The two semifinal winners will meet on Sunday, Nov. 5., in the championship match with the winner earning the conference's automatic bid into the 2017 NCAA Division III women's volleyball championship.

Bison senior outside hitter Darriyan Thomas (Vallejo, Calif.) posted a game-high 25 kills and 17 digs to earn her 17th double-double of the season. Sophomore Adele Daniels (Austin, Texas) passed out 40 assists and made 15 digs in the win. Freshmen Karita Lewis (Frederick, Md.) and Brynn Schmidt (Bozeman, Mont.) added nine and eight kills, respectively.

Lancaster Bible was led by Hannah Gipe and Ashtyn Bouslog who recorded 10 kills each while Allison Shuey passed out 32 assists.

BISON TRACKS

• Junior libero Raelyn Fuechtmann (South St. Paul, Minn.) made 14 digs
• Three different Bison had 14 or more digs
• Senior Giuletta Maucere (Valley Village, Calif.) led the team with five blocks (two solo)
• Junior Shua Clay (Pembroke Pines, Fla.) had four block assists
• GU had four aces and 16 serving errors in the match

UP NEXT
Gallaudet will face Penn St.-Berks (14-13) for a second time this season. GU lost in straight sets to the Nittany Lions back on Oct. 4 in Reading, Pa.,