FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. - Shenandoah University earned its first USA South Volleyball Tournament victory in eight years with a 3-1 quarterfinal round victory Tuesday night over Methodist.

Shenandoah (18-15) won 25-20, 23-25, 25-22, 25-14 over the Monarchs (21-8) and punches its ticket to the semi-finals beginning on Friday at Christopher Newport.

The Hornets will take on second-seeded Averett in the first match of the evening on Friday at the Freeman Center. AU defeated No. 7 Peace 3-1 Tuesday evening.

In eliminating MU, SU hit over .300 in sets three and four, including a 12 kill performance in the fourth that saw just four errors in 26 attempts.

Senior Rachel Maki led the victors with 12 kills while juniors Mary Harshman and Megan Gillispie both had 11.

Maki hit .500 for the match with the 12 kills in 20 attempts and had just two errors.

Freshman Nicole Mueller registered the final point of the match on a service ace. The ace was one of seven on the night for the Hornets - Gillispie had five and Kelcy Brown one.

Harshman paced the defense with 13 digs with Emily Jones adding 10.

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