WALTHAM, Mass. – For the third consecutive year, the Bentley volleyball team prepares for the NCAA Championship Quarterfinals. The three-time reigning NCAA East Regional Champions head to Sioux Falls, South Dakota as one of the eight remaining teams in the National Championship. Bentley earned the #6 seed, and it will take on #3 Point Loma Thursday, Dec. 11, at 12 p.m. (EST) in the Sanford Pentagon.

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The three-peat
Prior to 2023, the Bentley program had never won the NCAA East Regional title. Two years ago, however, the Falcons claimed their first such title in Garden City, New York (at Adelphi). Last year, Bentley hosted the NCAA East Regional for the first time in program history. The Falcons outlasted American International in five sets in the championship match. The NCAA East Regional returned to Waltham, Mass. in 2025, and Bentley swept Mercy in the title match.
 
Conference crown, regional reign
The 2025 Falcons went undefeated in Northeast 10 matches for the first time since 2005. Bentley won both the NE10 Regular-Season Championship and the NE10 Tournament title. What's more, the Falcons went undefeated in regional matches this season.
 
Uniquely Bentley
Bentley is the only program in the country to reach all three NCAA DII Volleyball Championship Quarterfinals from 2023 through 2025.
 
A familiar venue
The 2024 NCAA Championship Quarterfinals were held in the Sanford Pentagon in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. It's where the Falcons made volleyball history, becoming the first-ever #8 seed to beat the #1 seed in the national quarterfinals. Bentley stunned Ferris State in five sets, reaching the final four for the first time in program history. It was the first and only loss of Ferris State's 2024 season. Bentley lost to Lynn in the semifinals, as Lynn went on to win the national title.
 
Believe in Blinn
Elizabeth Blinn is the heart and soul of the Bentley program. The senior leads the nation in blocks per set (1.67), and she was named the NE10 Defensive Player of the Year. Blinn's 2025 season also includes her second consecutive All-NE10 First Team selection, three NE10 Defensive Player of the Week honors, and she earned NE10 Tournament Most Outstanding Player.
 
Setting the tone
Sophomore Tory Vitko is the 2025 NE10 Setter of the Year. She enters the NCAA Quarterfinals averaging 9.37 assists per set, and she has 10 double-doubles this season. Two of those double-doubles were during the NE10 Tournament. She earned All-NE10 First Team this year, after earning All-NE10 Second Team last year.
 
A sophisticated game
Sophia Poehlein is Bentley's leading outside hitter, averaging 3.74 kills per set. Three times this year she reached at least 20 kills, each in just four sets. She had a career-high 23 kills in Bentley's 2025 home-opener against Post. Like Tory Vitko, Poehlein went from All-NE10 Second Team in 2024, to All-NE10 First Team in 2025.
 
She's no lemon
Only a freshman, Lulu Pavan was named to the All-NE10 Second Team this year. Her 2.87 kills per set rank second on the team, and she has reached double-digit kills 12 times this season. Pavan's collegiate career began with 10+ kills in each of her first four matches.
 
Adapting for the team
Several Falcons have taken on new or elevated roles compared to previous seasons. Prior to 2025, injuries limited Sasha Luzina to just six sets in her Bentley career. Those sets were played in 2023, as she sat out the entire 2024 season. Luzina had been mostly working as an outside hitter, but this year she shifted to a defensive specialist role. Luzina has played in all 31 matches this season, totaling 106 sets and 221 digs. Similarly to Luzina, Elena Coban has overcome injuries to be a huge factor for the 2025 Bentley squad. Coban sat out the 2023 season, and in 2024 she suffered a season-ending knee injury. Coban returned to the court several weeks into the 2025 season, and she has posted 1.86 kills-per-set along with 0.86 blocks-per-set. Lauren Hallas' Bentley career began in 2023. She was primarily a setter in her first two seasons, but Hallas has become more of a Swiss Army Knife in 2025. She went from playing in 93 sets in her first two seasons combined, to 97 sets so far in 2025.  
 
Battle tested
Bentley opened its 2025 season in the prestigious Colorado Premier Challenge, the annual tournament that features a plethora of nationally-ranked teams. Bentley is the first program from the East Region in more than 20 years to receive an invitation to the Colorado Premier Challenge. Although the Falcons won only one of four matches in Colorado, they gained crucial experience competing against three teams that were nationally-ranked top 15 at the time (No. 2 Angelo State, No. 5 West Texas A&M, No. 15 Point Loma).  
 
That's our Joey
Joey Pacis was named both the NE10 Coach of the Year and the East Region Coach of the Year in 2025. It is his fourth NE10 Coach of the Year honor (2014, 2019, 2023), and his second Regional Coach of the Year nod (2019). Pacis, who is just the third head coach in program history, has a career record of 220-111 (.664).
 
Regional regals
In addition to Joey Pacis' coaching award, four Falcons earned AVCA All-Region honors. Elizabeth Blinn, Sophia Poehlein, and Tory Vitko were each named to the All-Region First Team, while Lulu Pavan received All-Region Honorable Mention.
 
Oh captain, my captain
Bentley's captains are the senior trio of Elizabeth Blinn, Erica Borzone, and Hannah Rounds.
 
A look at 2024 NCAA performances
During Bentley's historic 2024 NCAA Quarterfinal win over Ferris State, Tory Vitko had 37 assists, Sophia Poehlein had 19 kills (.255), and Elizabeth Blinn finished with six blocks. In the semifinal match against Lynn, Vitko totaled 27 assists, and Poehlein had 12 kills,
 
The second meeting
Bentley and Point Loma went head-to-head earlier this season in the Colorado Premier Challenge (Sept. 12). Point Loma won in four sets. Three Falcons totaled double-digit kills: Lulu Pavan (12), Katelyn Rutledge (12), Sophia Poehlein (10). Tory Vitko posted a double-double with 32 assists and 10 digs, while Elizabeth Blinn totaled eight blocks in the four sets.
 
The elite eight
In addition to #6 Bentley and #3 Point Loma, the NCAA Quarterfinals include #1 Tampa, #2 Concordia-St. Paul, #4 MSU Denver, #5 Wingate, #7 Gannon, and #8 Ferris State.
 
Scouting Point Loma (27-4)
Point Loma enters this week ranked No. 9 in the country by the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA). Its four losses this season came against Fresno Pacific in the PacWest Championship final, against Vanguard (Nov. 12), against Fresno Pacific (Oct. 6), and against Cal State San Bernardino (Sept. 6). Abigail Nua leads the Sea Lions' attack with 4.84 kills per set, and Saren Rogers averages 3.27 kills per set. Setter Sophia Baugh averages 11.45 assists per set. As a team, the Sea Lions are hitting .229 this season, and holding opponents to .177.