Box Score (Canton, N.Y.)- The SUNY Canton women's volleyball team advanced to the semifinals of the 2012 USCAA national championship with a tremendous 3-0 win over Penn State Fayette in the elimination round at Roos House Saturday afternoon.

SUNY Canton improved to 25-2 overall with a 25-22, 25-15 and 25-21 win over the Roaring Lions.

The Roos earned the second seed in the elimination round after finishing pool play Friday and Saturday with a 3-1 record.  They'll face defending champions Florida College Sunday morning at 10 a.m. at Roos House. 

"I am so proud of the girls," said head coach Carol LaMarche.  "Today was a mentally and physically exhausting day and the girls showed they were up for the challenge."

SUNY Canton had to come from behind in both the first and third sets against Fayette to stay alive in the tournament.  In the opening set, the Roos trailed 20-15 and rallied to tie the set at 21-21 thanks to a kill from senior Danielle Swanston (Burke, N.Y.).  The score was deadlocked again at 22-22 and the Roos closed the set with three straight points, one off a net violation by Fayette, another off an outstanding tip by Swanston and the third a service ace from freshman Morgan Bills (Walworth, N.Y.).

In the second set, the Roos raced out to a 6-1 lead and then stretched their advantage to 13-4.  With set point at 24-15, sophomore Jessica Reynolds (Oakville, Ontario) delivered an ace to end the set and push the Roos lead to 2-0.

In the third and final set, SUNY Canton trailed 7-5 and then 13-9 before tying the match on two separate occasions.  Fayette then scored two points in a row to build an 18-16 lead, but then watched as the Roos  scored two straight of their own, including a kill by sophomore Caitlin Grimshaw (Adams, N.Y.) in the middle that tied the game 18-18.  A nice tip from freshman Rachel Lowther (Woodbridge, Va.) ignited a run of a seven straight points by SUNY Canton that opened a 23-18 advantage.  Sophomore Mackenzie Mynter (Churchville, N.Y.) then found a hole in the Roaring Lions defense on set point and dropped a nice tip to the floor to close out the match 25-21.

Grimshaw finished with a team-high eight kills.  Reynolds added seven kills and four digs.  Swanston had six digs and five kills.  Mynter handed out 22 assists and had five digs and two kills.  Freshman Robyn Carroll (Bowmanville, Ontario) made a team-leading 18 digs and Lowther and Bills each nailed three kills apiece.

Rochester College will face Daemen College in the other semifinal game at 12 p.m.  The third-place game will be held at 2 p.m. and the championship game at 4 p.m.  All the games on Sunday will be in Roos House.

Click here for recaps and statistics of the 2012 USCAA women's volleyball national championship.