VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. – The eighth ranked Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College volleyball team defeated third ranked Alfred State on Friday night to advance to the semifinals of the USCAA Volleyball National Championship. The Pomeroys, who have played some of their best volleyball of the season, have now won a program record six straight matches after beating Alfred State, 3-0 (25-20, 27-25, 25-23).

The Pomeroys have continued their run through the USCAA National Championship after entering the tournament ranked eighth. The Pomeroys beat #1 Florida National, #4 Maine Fort Kent, #5 Rochester and #9 Penn State Fayette in pool play and have now taken down #3 Alfred State in the national championship quarterfinals.

Sophomore McKenzi Kumpf continues to be the driving force behind SMWC's attack with 13 kills. Sophomore Autum Loughead contributed eight kills from the middle, while sophomore Mary Alvanos turned in 27 assists. Kumpf led the team in digs with 15 to earn a double-double.

All three sets were highly contested Friday night with SMWC getting the edge in all three. Set one went back and forth before SMWC, up 15-14, took advantage of mistakes by Alfred State and sophomore Gabriella Slagle finished the set with a kill to earn the 25-20 victory. Sets two and three were even closer than set one, with the Pomeroys having to battle back from being down 7-2 in set two to earn the 27-25 victory. Then in set three, Alfred State pushed SMWC to its limits again, as the Pomeroys had to battle back from being down late, 21-18. In the end, Loughead, Kumpf and Alvanos were able to lift the Pomeroys past Alfred State to advance to the semifinal round of the USCAA National Championship.

The Pomeroys will now face #5 Rochester at noon on Saturday. Saturday's semifinal round meeting between RC and SMWC will be the third time the two squads have met this season. RC defeated SMWC during the regular season, 3-1 (29-31, 16-25, 25-11, 22-25). The Pomeroys then got revenge during pool play with a 2-1 (20-25, 25-11, 15-12) victory. On Saturday these two teams will battle it out for a chance to play in the USCAA National Championship at 4 p.m.

"It feels really good to win again," stated Alvanos, when asked about SMWC victory over Alfred State and the team's success over the past two days. "We have a lot of work to do tomorrow obviously. We aren't where we want to be yet, but I feel like we can pull through if we keep playing with the same level of consistency. After a rough year it feels really good to be able to continue to win and persevere as a team."