Story Courtesy of Misericordia Athletics

The Misericordia University women's volleyball team advanced to the MAC Freedom championship match for the third straight season with a come-from-behind 3-2 win at DeSales, Thursday.

The Cougars will travel to Stevens, Saturday at 1:00.

Isabella Lutter led the Cougars with 17 kills while Taylor Marsh had 15 kills and five blocks and Jennifer Nicometo added 14 kills and three aces.

Keira McCaffrey had four aces while Olivia Conza had 47 assists and Maggie Duda had 23 digs.

DeSales never trailed in the opening set and used a 6-0 run to win 25-17.

Neither team led by more than three points in the second set which the Cougars won, 29-27.

Facing set-point, Marsh and Colleen Kelleher capped a long rally to tie the score with a block. Nicometo's smash from the left side tied the score and she hit through two blockers on the left side for the winning point.

MU took a 10-5 lead in the third set, but DeSales answered with a 5-0 run to pull even.

The Bulldogs scored four straight points to take a 21-16 lead and held off an MU rally to win 25-22.

Down 6-3 in the fourth set, the Cougars rallied to take an 11-9 lead on a 5-0 run keyed by two kills by Nicometo.

Two kills from Marsh made it 22-15. DeSales battled back to get within 24-23, but an attack error gave MU a 25-23 win.

Down 9-8 in the finale, Nicometo had back-to-back aces to fuel a 5-0 spurt to MU in front for good, 13-9.

Lutter closed out the match with two kills in a 15-11 win.