Aston, Pa. – Second-seeded Neumann University advanced to Saturday's Colonial States Athletic Conference volleyball championship match with a three-set victory over fourth-seeded Keystone College in a CSAC semifinal on Thursday night.     
 
The Knights, now 16-21 on the season, will play at top-seeded Cabrini University (28-6), a three-set winner over #6 Notre Dame of Maryland University in Thursday's other semifinal contest, in Saturday's title match.  The Giants end the 2017 campaign with a 14-17 overall record after making their third straight trip to the semifinal round.
 
Keystone took a 9-6 lead in Thursday's opening set before Neumann countered with the next four points to claim a 10-9 edge.  Tied at 11-apiece the Knights scored the game's next three points to take a 14-11 advantage.  The Giants pulled to within a single point three times before Neumann pulled away with a 25-20 win in the opening set.
 
The two sides went point-for-point to start the second set before Neumann went on a 5-0 run to claim a 16-11 advantage.  Keystone cut its deficit to three points, but the Knights would go on to win the frame 25-18 to take a 2-0 lead in the match.
 
Leading 11-8 in the third set, Neumann rattled off 10 straight points to open up a comfortable 21-8 lead before closing out the sweep with a 25-12 victory in the third game.
 
Melanie Malseed powered the Knights with a match-high 17 kills to go along with 10 digs on the evening while Rachel Cray led all players with 33 assists, 11 digs, and four aces.
 
Neumann hit .347 as a team in the victory while avenging a three-set defeat suffered to the Giants during the regular season in Aston.
 
Amanda Hardy (Tunkhannock, Pa./Tunkhannock) paced Keystone with six kills while Malley Bowen (Owego, N.Y./Tioga Central) and Kristen Larkin (Williamstown, N.J./Williamstown) added five kills apiece.
 
Bowen also led the squad with 16 assists and nine digs while Victoria Homfeld (Smithtown, N.Y./Hauppauge) added eight digs for the Giants, who hit .095 in the season-ending defeat
 
Bowen, Larkin, and Erika Schwoyer (Bethlehem, Pa./Freedom) each served up aces for the visitors.
 
Nicki Yeager (Medford, N.J./Shawnee) totaled six digs in the final game of her collegiate career while Shannon Monahan (Manalapan, N.J./Freehold) ended her Keystone career with one kills and three digs.