CAMBRIDGE, MA (November 14, 2021) -- The historic season for the 2021 Susquehanna University volleyball team came to an end Sunday afternoon, as the River Hawks fell to No. 18 Massachusetts Institute of Technology 3-1 in the NCAA Regional Final in play from Rockwell Cage on the campus of MIT. With the victory, MIT will advance to play in the final weekend of action in the NCAA Tournament starting next Friday in St. Louis after posting the 25-19, 27-25, 22-25, 25-20 win.

The amazing year for the River Hawks (24-7) was highlighted this week by a pair of NCAA Tournament victories over Maine Maritime Academy and Bowdoin College, marking the farthest in the NCAA Tournament that SU has advanced. The trip to the NCAA Tournament was the second for the senior class, who finish their careers at SU with three tournament wins including the first-ever back in 2019 to add to this year's postseason victories. 

As for Sunday's match with MIT, the host Engineers came out fast in the first set, leading by as much as eight at 19-11 before taking a 25-19 win in the first set. Neither team hit particularly well in the first stanza, but MIT was able to post an 11-9 edge in kills while also adding three aces in the period to take the early edge. 

The second set was a thriller as the squads went back-and-forth featuring 13 ties. Susquehanna fended off a set point at 24-23 and would get its own set point at 25-24 after an ace by junior Rosina Esposito. The Engineers though would battle back with three straight to take a 2-0 lead with the 27-25 victory in the second set. Susquehanna blocked well in the second set with four in the set, but was outhit .170-.102 in the period which was the difference. 

Susquehanna would pull back to within a set at 2-1 after a third-set victory, as SU posted 13 kills and two aces to rally for the victory. In the set, SU was down 21-17 after a kill by Annie Bryan forcing a timeout by SU. After the break, Susquehanna would go on an 8-1 run highlighted by a set-clinching kill by Riley O'Dowd. The fourth set saw MIT respond with a strong start to edge out to an nine-point lead at 21-12. The River Hawks would go on a charge to pull to within four at 24-20 after a kill from Esposito but Lilly Edwards put away a kill to clinch the victory for the Engineers. 

Offensively, O'Dowd finished with 13 kills on 57 attempts, hitting .140 while adding two digs and four assisted blocks. Senior Kody Dillon ended with 12 terminations, seven digs and six assisted blocks, while Esposito registered 11 kills, two aces, eight digs and three assisted blocks. First-year Keira Roach added a double-double of 33 assists, two aces and 12 digs, while Lizzie Herestofa finished her incredible career with a match-best 27 digs. Fellow senior Megan Nelson also posted 10 digs on the night in her final collegiate match.
 

Of the seven losses for Susquehanna this year, the last five came against teams ranked in the top 20. SU will likely be ranked in the final AVCA poll, released after the NCAA National Tournament is finished next Sunday. 

MIT (27-3) was led by Annie Bryan and her 18 kills, while Edwards tallied 10 kills. Ottavia Personeni finished with 26 digs, and Emily Cheng tallied 47 assists and 12 digs. The All-Tournament team for the Cambridge, MA Regional saw Esposito and Dillon earn a spot for Susquehanna, while Personeni, Bryan were named from MIT with Cheng earning Most Outstanding Player. 

The Engineer held a slight edge in hitting on Sunday (.154-.114), while also posting an 87-77 edge in digs for the match. 

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