NEW LONDON, N.H. – November 7, 2014 – The Colby-Sawyer College and Maine Maritime women's volleyball teams will meet for the fourth straight season in Saturday's 2014 North Atlantic Conference (NAC) Championship match after each earning a win in the semifinals, Friday evening.
Colby-Sawyer defeated Lyndon 3-0, while Maine Maritime downed Husson, 3-0 to earn a eighth straight bid to the title match.
The Chargers have defeated the Mariners 3-0 in last three championships.
First serve of the championship match tomorrow is scheduled for 11:30 am. Follow the action with live video
http://nsnsports.net/nac/ Click
HERE for the Interactive Tournament Bracket
Colby-Sawyer 3, Lyndon 0 – 25-5, 25-8, 25-8Colby-Sawyer (26-8) increased its win streak to 10 matches with a 3-0 victory over Lyndon (7-13) in tonight's NAC semifinals. The Chargers hit .373 as a team.
The Chargers raced out to a 7-1 lead to begin the first set, which was capped by a
Kelsey Sullivan (Laconia, N.H.) ace, to force a timeout by the Hornets. A kill by Lyndon's Gwyneth Stahl (Whitinsville, Mass.) stopped the run, but the Hornets gave the ball back to the Chargers with a service error. Colby-Sawyer senior
Sarah Hannon (North Falmouth, Mass.) then served the next nine points to give Colby-Sawyer a 17-2 lead. The Chargers hit .476 in the set and took a 1-0 lead with a 25-5 victory.
Colby-Sawyer opened the second set on a 13-2 run before the two teams traded the next six points to make it 16-5. Sophomore Gabrielle Rodriquez (Rancho Cucamonga, Calif.) gave Colby-Sawyer the 25-8 win with her second kill of the set.
The Chargers did not slow down in the third set and took a 13-1 lead thanks to strong serving by Sullivan. NAC Player of the Year,
Jackie Keating (Marshfield, Mass.) ended the match with an ace for a 25-8 win in the third set.
The Chargers were led by seniors
Jackie Keating (Marshfield, Mass.) and
Stephanie Vecchio (Shelter Island, N.Y.). Vecchio had eight kills on .500 hitting, while Keating hit .353 with eight kills. NAC Rookie and Defensive Player of the Year
Lexi Strong (Somersworth, N.H.) had a match-high 10 digs. Junior
Kelsey Sullivan (Laconia, N.H.) added three kills, three aces and five total blocks.
Sophomore Kelleigh Murtagh (Merrimack, N.H.) led the Hornets with three kills. Senior Ashley Barski (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) collected a team best eight digs.
Maine Maritime 3, Husson 0 – 25-11, 25-23, 25-12The Mariners reached their eighth straight conference title match with a 3-0 victory over Husson to improve to 16-14. The Eagles drop to 9-22.
Maine Maritime took control of the first set after jumping out to an 11-3 lead capped by a Gillian O'Neal (Burbank, Calif.) service ace. The teams traded the next several points before the Mariners ended the set on one of O'Neal's eight kills in the set. Maine Maritime hit .348 to take set one 25-11.
The second set featured five ties and three lead changes and went down to the wire. Husson took its largest lead of the match at 13-8 after a Marissa Tautimer (Tucson, Ariz.) kill. The Eagles held onto the lead until a 5-1 run by the Mariners knotted the score at 19-19. The set would be tied once again at 23-23, but the Mariners received a kill from junior Sydney Robertson (Barnstead, N.H.) and a miscue from Husson to take a 25-23 victory in set two.
The Mariners closed out the match in convincing fashion with a 25-12 third set victory. The team hit .292 and held Husson to -.167 attacking. Maine Maritime ended the set on a 5-1 run to win by a 13-point margin, 25-12 and win the match.
O'Neal led all players with 16 kills on .312 hitting and added 11 digs. Robertson also reached double figure kills with 11 and hit an impressive .524. The duo accounted for 27 of the team's 35 kills. Senior setter Betsy Trenckmann (La Veta, Colo.) had a match best 31 assists and added three aces.
Husson was led by senior Alexandra deHertogh (Cumberland, R.I.). She hit .417 with five kills, two aces and a pair of blocks. Freshman Kaitlyn Carl (East Machias, Maine) added four kills, six digs and three aces. Freshman setter Marissa Johnson (Russell, N.Y.) had 12 assists and a team best eight digs.
