Syracuse, N.Y. – Kathleen Benson registered 18 kills to lead eighth-seeded Pace University to a 3-1 upset win over the top-seeded Le Moyne College volleyball team in the Northeast-10 Conference Championships quarterfinals on Tuesday evening at Ted Grant Court.
 
Le Moyne (22-6), which is the third #1 seed to fall in the first round over the last 13 seasons and the first to do so since the University of New Haven in 2011 (New Haven also lost in 2009), now awaits word on an NCAA Championships bid. The 64-team field (eight from each of eight regions) will be announced on Monday on NCAA.com at 7:30 p.m. The Dolphins were ranked sixth in last week's NCAA East Region rankings, with the third and final regular season rankings being released late Wednesday afternoon.

The Setters opened the match with a 25-17 victory in the first set. Le Moyne answered back with a 25-18 win in the second set, which included a 6-0 run early in the set, to even the match at one apiece. Pace regained the lead with a 25-21 victory in the third set, which included scoring 11 of the last 13 points to overcome a five-point deficit. The Setters closed out the match by holding off a late 7-0 rally by the Dolphins for a 25-22 win in the fourth set.

Sophomore right side Jessica Miller (Williamsville, N.Y./Williamsville South) led the Dolphins in the setback with a career high-tying 21 kills. She also posted 21 kills in last year's Northeast-10 quarterfinals, while posting the total on two other occasions this season (Daemen and Roberts Wesleyan). Miller also recorded four digs and three block assists. Senior outside hitter Natalie Casson (Kingman, Ariz./Kingman) registered her 11th double-double of the season with 11 kills and 18 digs in her final match on Ted Grant Court. With Miller's 21 kills giving her 328 on the season, she and Casson (337) are just the second set of Dolphin teammates to each record at least 325 kills in the same season (Jessica Burns & Jessica Russell in 2002). Junior middle blocker/outside hitter Danica Durdines (Alta Loma, Calif./Los Osos) posted 10 kills, four digs and a pair of block assists. Junior setter Kendall Corcoran (Fort Salonga, N.Y./Kings Park) facilitated the offense with 51 assists and three kills, while adding 10 digs for her team-best 12th double-double of the campaign. Corcoran moved into third place on the program's single-season assists list with 1183. Sophomore libero Mikayla Porr (Massapequa, N.Y./Massapequa) led the Dolphins defensively with 34 digs, her fourth match this season with at least 34 digs, which included the regular season meeting with the Setters. With her 31st dig of the match, Porr became the first player in the program's history to record 600 digs in a season. Sophomore defensive specialist Molly Gallagher (Schenectady, N.Y./Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake) contributed to the defensive effort with a career-best 19 digs.

Benson tallied seven of her kills in the first set and landed 15 kills before committing her first error of the match, while adding five blocks. Claudia Fontanet registered a double-double of 11 kills, including the final point of the match, and 20 digs, including seven in the fourth set. Sydney Lecker was the third Setter with double figure kills with 12, while adding five digs. Samantha Nidini was the second Setter with a double-double with 45 assists and 21 digs. Danielle Vaiano led Pace defensively with 30 digs, while Samantha Marquez tallied 14 digs.