KEENE, N.H. 11/7/08 - Top seed Keene State College and second
seed UMass-Boston will play for the 2008 Little East Conference
championship and an automatic berth to the NCAA Division III
tournament on Saturday after posting semifinal wins in the
tournament on Friday night at Spaulding Gymnasium.
In the opening match, Keene State (28-8) defeated #4 seed
Western Conn. (19-9) in four highly-contested games 3-1 (25-22,
25-22, 23-25, and 25-20). Second seed UMass-Boston (25-8)
defeated #3 seed Eastern Conn.(20-12) in the second match 3-0
(25-19, 25-14, and 25-15).
All four games in the Keene State-Western Conn. match were
decided on late points. In the first game, the Owls took its
first lead (22-21) on an attempted kills by the Colonials that went
wide of the court. Freshman Ellyse Davis
(Londonderry, N.H.) got the deciding point with a kill to give KSC
a 25-22 win.
A key block by junior Jordan Pokryfki (Wasilla,
Alaska) put the Owls up 23-20 as the Owls went on to win the second
game 25-22.
Trailing early, the Warriors reeled off seven straight points to
go up 15-14 in the third game. With the scored knotted at
23-all, sophomore Natalie Crosby (East haven, Conn.) had a kill and
junior Chrissy Bell (Prospect, Conn.) served up an ace as WCSU took
game three 25-23.
KSC, which went up 22-15 on an ace by freshman Bridget
O'Bryant (Merrimack, N.H.), never trailed in the fourth
and final game. Senior Brittany O'Bryant
(Merrimack put the match away (25-20) with a kill.
"The first ones out of the way, but I don't think it's our best
volleyball," said KSC Coach Bob Weiner. "Our
best match is going to be ahead of us. But I'm so happy to
have the opportunity to have that match."
"It took awhile for us to get rid of out jitters,' said junior
libero Sarah Peterson (Danville, N.H.), who
finished with 28 digs. "We have to go out tomorrow and play
like we have nothing to lose."
"I think we were a little bit nervous coming into the match.
Everyone single player, especially the upperclassmen wants this
championship so bad," said Pokryfki, who had 43 assists in the
match. "Tomorrow is going to be a tough match, so we need to
work as team and hopefully we can get it done."
Bridget and Brittany O'Bryant led the Owl offense with 14 and 13
kills respectively. Brittany also had four blocks.
Crosby led the Warriors with 15 kills, junior Rebecca Stein
(Kingston, N.Y.) had 14 kills and five blocks and freshman libero
Kelly Collins finished with 27 digs for the Colonials.
UMass-Boston led from start to finish in its three game match
against the Warriors. The Beacons pulled away in the late
stages to take the first game 25-19. A service ace by junior Kate
McWhorter (Bakersfield, Ca.) put UMB up 20-13 on the way to a 25-14
second game win. The Beacons built up an 18-10 lead, taking
the third game 25-15.
McWhorter topped UMB with 16 kills and six blocks. Junior
Megan MacAuley (Upland, Ca.) added 18 digs, freshman Cassy Hanneman
(Denver, Co.) contributed 28 assists and two aces and freshman
Molly Rattigan (Dorchester, Mass.) finished with eight blocks and
two aces.
Senior hitter Sandra Jacques and freshman Kristianna Ibsen
(Shelton, Conn.) had seven and six kills respectively to lead the
Warriors. Senior setter Jen Braswell (Wilton, Conn.) added 11
digs.
Keene State, which extended its winning streak to 11 matches,
will be making its second appearance in the championship in the
last four years. The Owls lost in the 2005 finals to Eastern
Conn. (3-0). Earlier this season, the Owls defeated the Beacons 3-1
in Boston.
The Beacons, who have won 18 of their last 20 matches, are
making their first trip to the title game.
Eastern Conn., the defending LEC champs, had won the last three
championships.
Western Conn., who lost in last year's final to ECSU (3-0), won
the LEC crown from 1999-03.
KEENE STATE AND UMASS-BOSTON
ADVANCE TO FINALS
Match #1
1
2
3
4 F
#4 Western Conn. (19-9)
22
22
25
20 1
#1 Keene State
(28-8)
25
25
23
25 3
Match #1
1
2
3 F
#3 Eastern Conn. (20-12)
19
14
15
0
#2 UMass-Boston (25-8)
25
25
25
3
Championship: Keene State vs.
UMass-Boston, Sat. Nov. 8, 1 p.m.
