BETHANY, W.Va. -- The fifth-seeded Washington & Jefferson College volleyball team edged fourth-seeded Bethany College by a 3-2 score in a five-set thriller Saturday afternoon in the PAC Tournament Quarterfinals. 

The victory advances the Presidents to the PAC Tournament Semifinals where they will match up with top-seeded Westminster College on Tuesday, April 13. Start time is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. 

The win is the first for the W&J volleyball program in the PAC Tournament since 2016 when they earned a 3-2 win over Westminster in the quarterfinal round. 

W&J came out strong to take the opening set by a 25-19 score. The Presidents recorded the first seven points of the match before eventually taking an 11-1 advantage after back-to-back kills by Sophia Sacripointe (Butler, Pa./Butler). The Bison recorded five straight points to cut the deficit in half at 11-6. The Presidents would quickly rebuild a double-digit lead, which they maintained for a good portion of the remainder of the set. 

The Presidents picked up the victory in set two by an identical 25-19 margin. A kill by Lauren Gill (Pickerington, Ohio/Pickerington North) gave W&J a 7-3 lead in the early stages of the set. W&J held a 19-15 edge before Bethany responded with a mini run to get within two points (20-18). A pair of kills by Carmichael helped W&J secure the set victory. 

The Bison battled back to even the match with a 25-18 victory in the third and a 25-16 win in the fourth set. That set up a pivotal fifth set with a spot in the semifinals on the line. 

W&J used strong early play in the fifth set to take leads of 4-0 and 6-1. Bethany worked itself back with a few successful kills to close the deficit to 10-8. The Presidents remained resilient as they nailed down the victory behind strong play from Carmichael and Gill at the net. Carmichael registered three of the final four points for W&J. Gill and Samantha Sonnet (Canonsburg, Pa./Canon-McMillan) combined on a block to clinch the match. 

Carmichael matched a season-high with 16 kills while Gill reached double figures with 10. Sauerland finished with eight kills and 16 digs. Alexis Tomassini (Gettysburg, Pa./Gettysburg) tallied 32 assists and four service aces. Defensively, Carmichael had eight total blocks while Sauerland accounted for four. Katie Conner (Pittsburgh, Pa./Vincentian Academy) registered a match-high 34 digs while Sacriponte added 20.