ASTON, Pa. – The Neumann University Women's Volleyball team will head to Virginia for the Atlantic East Conference championship against Marymount University on Saturday.
 
The Knights finished the regular season with a conference record of 5-1 and picked up the No. 2 seed heading into the tournament. Their overall record stands at 13-18. In the semifinal match against No. 3 Marywood, Neumann dominated with a three-set sweep by scores of 25-15, 25-9, and 25-8. Nayeli Cruz led the way with eight kills, followed by Bri Gautier's seven, and Julia Solomon's six. Dani Smith had five service aces and is just two away from taking the Neumann career record. She added 34 assists and six digs. Hannah Strohm led in digs with 12.
 
Melissa Eddy leads the offense with 295 kills. Solomon had 247 and Cruz contributed 230. Smith has 981 assists to go with 64 service aces.
 
Defensively, Taylor Long led with 36 block assists and 14 block solos for 50 total blocks, all team-highs. Cruz had 43 total blocks with nine block solos and 34 block assists. Strohm paced the Knights with 427 digs and Smith was right behind with 384.
 
No. 1 Marymount earned their way to the final with a three-set semifinal win over No. 3 Gwynedd Mercy University, by scores of 25-20, 25-17, and 25-16. They were 6-0 in the regular season with an overall record of 11-21.
 
In their regular season meeting, on October 16^th, the Saints defeated the Knights, 3-1. Marymount took the first two set, 25-19 and 25-14, before Neumann nabbed the third set, 25-18, their first win against Marymount since 2018. The Saints closed out the match with a tight 25-21 fourth set win.
 
The match is scheduled for a 2:00 PM start at the Converse Family Fieldhouse in Arlington, Va.