NEW LONDON, N.H. – November 8, 2014 – The Colby-Sawyer College women's volleyball team won its fourth consecutive North Atlantic Conference (NAC) Championship after defeating Maine Maritime 3-0 on Saturday morning.

Colby-Sawyer (27-8), who increased its win streak to 11 matches, won by scores of 25-23, 25-9, and 25-15. Maine Maritime falls to 16-15. The Chargers have won each of their four NAC titles over the Mariners.

The Chargers will make a trip to the NCAA for the seventh time in school history and will find out Monday at 11:00 a.m. where they will travel and who they will play. The Division III Women's Volleyball selection show can be seen at NCAA.com or selecting this link http://www.ncaa.com/live/player?vid=2014/1822&date=2014/11/10

The first set was back and forth throughout with 16 ties and seven lead changes. The Mainers led by as much as two a couple of times, while the Chargers held its largest lead of four at 17-13. Maine Maritime battled back with four straight points capped by a pair of kills from Sydney Robertson (Barnstead, N.H.) to tie the set at 17-17. The set would be tied once again at 23-23 until Colby-Sawyer senior Stephanie Vecchio (Shelter Island, N.Y.) gave the Chargers a lead with a kill. Colby-Sawyer then benefited from a Mariners miscue to win the set 25-23.

The Chargers opened set two with a pair of kills from senior Jackie Keating (Marshfield, Mass.) and never looked back. Colby-Sawyer held a lead throughout the set and cruised to a 25-9 victory. The Chargers hit .429 and had 17 kills in the frame.

Colby-Sawyer made it a 3-0 sweep with a 25-15 win in the third set to hoist the NAC crown. After the teams traded the first few points, Colby-Sawyer began to pull away to 10-4 lead on a kill by Keating. The Chargers pushed its lead to 11 at 21-10 after a Gabrielle Rodriguez (Rancho Cucamonga, Calif.) kill. Keating ended the match with her 10th kill.

Vecchio, who was named NAC Tournament MVP, led all players with 14 kills. Keating was named to the All-Tournament Team after a 10-kill, nine-dig performance for the Chargers. Junior Kelsey Sullivan (Laconia, N.H.) also was named to the All-Tournament Team after a seven-kill performance on .385 hitting. Junior Laura Smolinski (Hebron, Conn.) registered a double-double of 33 assists and 10 digs.

Maine Maritime was led by Gillian O'Neal (Burbank, Calif.). She had a team best 10 kills and 17 digs and was named to the All-Tournament Team for her efforts. Robertson also was named to the All-Tournament Team after hitting .333 with eight kills. Senior Betsy Trenckmann (La Veta, Colo.) added 18 assists and nine digs.

All-Tournament Team
Lyndon – Kelleigh Murtagh
Husson – Alexandra deHertogh
Maine Maritime – Gillian O'Neal
Maine Maritime – Sydney Robertson
Colby-Sawyer – Jackie Keating
Colby-Sawyer – Kelsey Sullivan
Colby-Sawyer – Stephanie Vecchio - MVP