CHARLOTTE, N.C. – For the first time in program history, the Queens University of Charlotte Volleyball Team advances to the Conference Carolinas Tournament Championship match after defeating Erskine College this evening in four sets (25-16, 25-17, 16-25, 25-23). The Royals improve to 23-8 on the year while Erskine ends its season at 19-15.

The Royals jumped out to a commanding 2-0 lead after two games of spectacular play. Queens racked up 15 kills in the opening game on a .406 hitting percentage. The second game was much the same featuring a .333 hitting percentage from the Royals.

After a break between sets two and three, Erskine returned to the court with the momentum building a 7-3 lead forcing a timeout from the home team. The Royals worked hard to put together some short spurts to get back in the game, but the Flying Fleet had control as they went on the win 25-16, pushing the match to a fourth game.

Queens led the entire fourth game building a six point lead after four straight kills delivered by Keri Kemp (Lake Mary, Fla., Lake Mary), Tori Hernandez (Gainesville, Fla., Gainesvillle), Taylor Riley (Lynchburg, Va., E.C. Glass) and Brittany Harvey (Matthews, N.C., Sun Valley ). Erskine called a timeout to try to slow the Royals down, and they did for a short period before Kemp put down two more balls forcing the Fleet to exhaust their final timeout with the score sitting at 19-13. Erskine fought hard to get back in the game, but the Royals held them off winning 25-23.

Erskine was led by Sandra Campbell and Liz Massey who each collected 14 kills for the Fleet's struggling offense tonight. Larz Chabra dished out a game-high 35 assists. Massey also led in digs with 15 giving her a double-double for the night.

The Royals were led by Lindsey Everhart (Cincinnati, Ohio, McNicholls) who completed tonight's match with 12 kills. Kemp collected 10, while Anna Gibbs (Hickory, N.C., Hickory), Brittney Barren (Ham Lake, Minn., Blaine) and Harvey notched eight, seven and seven, respectively. Avery Moore (Arlington, Texas, Lamar) led her team with 21 assists, while Riley chipped in 16. Riley also tallied 14 digs for a double-double. Jocelyn Kellinger (Roanoke, Va., Cave Spring) had a game-high 18 digs and Barren collected 14 digs.

The Royals will travel to face Lees-McRae College on Sunday, November 13 at 2 pm in the championship match.