No. 4 Lynn 3, No. 8 Bentley 0
Box Score
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – Bentley's historic 2024 season came to a close in the Final Four as the Falcons fell to Lynn in three sets on Friday night.
Lynn (32-3), the #4 seed, defeated the #8 seeded Falcons by scores of 25-21, 25-15, 25-18.
The Falcons finished at 26-7 after they won their second straight East Region championship, and advanced to the Final Four for the first time in program history after they defeated the #1 seed Ferris State on Thursday.
Sophia Poehlein had a match-high 12 kills for the Falcons, and
Caitlin Wunder and
Rachel Vitko each tallied eight kills.
Tory Vitko had 27 assists and
Lauren McCloskey notched four block assists.
The opening set saw the Falcons hit .317 but a late push saw Lynn take the set.
Past the midway point of the set, Bentley had two point leads of 17-15, 18-16, 19-17 and 20-18. The Falcons then led by three at 21-18 after McCloskey and
Rachel Vitko combined on a block.
The Fighting Knights however closed the set on a 7-0 run to win the opening set.
Wunder had four kills and hit .500 and Poehlein notched five kills and hit .455 in the opener.
The second set was again even in the early going as the teams traded points. Lynn then built a 12-9 lead but a 3-1 run by the Falcons got them to within 13-12. However, Lynn closed the set on a 12-3 run.
The Falcons started the third set strong and held four point leads on four different occasions, culminating in an 8-4 advantage after a kill by Wunder.
But Lynn chipped away at Bentley's lead and the set was eventually tied at three different points, at 12-12, 13-13 and 14-14.
Lynn took the lead for good at 15-14 and closed the set on a 10-4 run to clinch the match.
Lynn will face the #7 seed San Francisco State for the national championship on Saturday night.
- Recap provided by Bentley athletic communications -
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