The No. 2 seed University of Scranton volleyball team (16-11) is set to host the No. 3 seed Elizabethtown Blue Jays (17-10) in Landmark Conference semifinal action on Thursday night at the John Long Center in Scranton. First serve is slated for 7 p.m.

Thursday's winner will advance to Saturday's championship match against the winner of the day's other semifinal that features top-seeded Juniata hosting No. 5 seed Susquehanna.

Admission to Thursday's match is $7 for adults and $4 for minors ages 10-17 and seniors 62 and older. Children ages nine and under are admitted free of charge, as are all Landmark Conference students, faculty and staff with their school ID.

Tickets are on sale now and can be purchased at this link. Cash will also be accepted at the door, but advance purchase via HomeTown ticketing is the preferred method.

As a reminder, there is no alcohol and no pets allowed in the John Long Center.

Scranton earned the No. 2 seed in the conference tournament by virtue of going 8-1 in Landmark play, while ETown recorded a 3-0 sweep of No. 6 seed Drew in a quarterfinal match on Tuesday.

This marks the third consecutive year that the two teams have met in the semifinals with Scranton notching a 3-1 victory in 2021 and a 3-0 sweep of the Blue Jays a season ago.

Sophomore Deanna Whelpley (Congers, N.Y./Immaculate Heart Academy) leads a balanced attack for the Royals with 296 kills, while senior Stephanie Margolies (Westfield, N.J./Westfield) has 279 and junior Erin Keaveney (Collegeville, Pa./Villa Maria Academy) has 254. All three kill totals rank among the top eight in the conference.

Keaveney also ranks sixth in the conference in hitting percentage (.292), while fellow junior Sophia Hadjiyane (Huntington, N.Y./John Glenn) sits seventh in hitting percentage (.278) and tied for seventh in total blocks (53).

Elsewhere for Scranton, sophomore Maddie Forry (Reading, Pa./Exeter Township) ranks tied for third in the conference with 51 service aces and fourth in the conference with 489 digs.

Katie Scaggs leads the Blue Jays with 231 kills and Savannah Lesley has 201 of her own on the season. Scaggs ranks second in the conference with 92 total blocks and Kambrie Hepler has 560 digs, which also ranks second.

Click the following links for live video and live stats of Thursday's match.

--ROYALS--