Castine, Maine - The Lady Mariner volleyball team hosted the North Atlantic Conference Championships on Saturday and came away victorious, beating Lesley University and Husson College to win the championship. MMA held off Lesley University 3-2 and then ran past Husson College 3-0 to earn the NAC automatic qualifier to the NCAA Tournament.

In the first match the #1 seeded Maine Maritime Lady Mariners beat the #4 seeded Lesley University Lynx by the score of 3-2 (29-31, 25-30, 30-22, 30-26, 15-7). The Lady Mariners fought back from a two game deficit to beat the Lynx and advance to the championship game. Michelle Ferry (Princeton, ME) had 19 kills (.486%) and 21 digs to lead MMA. Ashley Tilton (Lubec, ME) added 11 kills and 27 digs while Becca Allen (Bucksport, ME) collected 41 assists. Amy Young (Cumberland, ME) and Kristi Gordon (Auburn, ME) had 11 and 10 kills respectively in the match. Lesley University, which ends it’s season 14-11, was led by Lindsey Marek’s (Killingworth, CT) 13 kills and 3 blocks. Gianna Spaziante (Hawthorne, NY) had 25 assists and 7 digs, while Hana Sakamoto (Tokyo, Japan) had 17 digs. Jackie Ungaro (Valley Stream, NY) and Beth Hoilund (Germantown, NY) ended with 12 and 11 kills respectively. With the victory MMA improves to 18-5 on the year.

In the second semi-final match of the day, the Eagles of Husson College (#2 seed) defeated the Blazers from Elms College (3# seed) by the score of 3-0 (30-28, 31-29, 30-15). The win moves the Eagles into the championship game against Maine Maritime Academy. The Eagle’s were led by Allison Chepke’s (N. Jackson, OH) 12 kills and 12 digs. Marion Kish (Wallingford, CT) had 30 assists, while Cassandra O’Neil (Manchester, NH) added 10 kills. The win moves the Eagles to 20-10 on the year.

Elms College, which ends it’s season at 11-13 was led by NAC Player of the Year, Jeannette Nunez (Carolina, Puerto Rico) who had 8 kills and 10 digs in the match. Kim Phillips (Randolph, MA) led the Blazers with 20 assists and two aces, while Kristen Havey (Methuen, MA) finished with 18 digs.

The championship game featured the Lady Mariners and Husson College Eagles going head to head. This was the 5th meeting of the year for these two teams. MMA controlled play and won the match 3-0 (30-21, 30-26, 30-12). MMA secured the championship behind the efforts of Ashley Tilton who collected 17 kills and 14 digs. Becca Allen had 25 assists and 26 digs in the match as well. Amy Young was outstanding collecting 7 kills, 5 assists, 9 aces, 11 digs, and 4 blocks. MMA improves to 19-5 on the season and will be advancing to the NCAA Tournament. The loss ends Husson’s season and drops them to 20-11 overall. Cassandra O’Neil led the Eagles with 7 kills in the match and Marion Kish dished out 15 assists. Kish also had 12 digs while Allison Chepke had 5 kills.

The following players were selected to the 2007 North Atlantic Conference Volleyball Championships All-Tournament Team:

Hana Sakamoto – Lesley University
Sashiann Johnson – Elms College
Allison Chepke – Husson College
Marion Kish – Husson College
Casey Morey – Maine Maritime
Michelle Ferry – Maine Maritime
Tournament MVP: Ashley Tilton – Maine Maritime

Lady Mariner Volleyball Advances to Semifinals With Win Over Castleton

Castine, Maine - The #1 seeded Lady Mariners hosted the #8 seeded Castleton State Spartans in a North Atlantic Conference Quarterfinal match tonight and came away with a 3-0 win. Amy Young (pictured left) led the way for the Lady Mariners (#1 seed), collecting 12 kills, 9 assists, 13 digs and 2 aces. The win advances MMA to the NAC semi-finals, which will be held at Maine Maritime Academy on Saturday.

In the match, The Lady Mariners beat Castleton by the score of 3-0 (30-224, 30-116, 30-10). Nicole St. Pierre (Baileyville, ME) was outstanding in the match as well, collecting 10 kills, while Becca Allen (Bucksport, ME) had 14 assists, 4 aces and 13 digs. Ashley Tilton (Lubec, ME) finished with 5 kills and 12 digs for the Lady Mariners.

Jamie Lemieux (Argyle, NY) led Castleton State with 9 kills on the evening. Samantha Grisso (South Dartmouth, MA) had 5 assists in the match while Heather Spain (South Royalton, VT) had 4 digs and 2 blocks.

The win moves MMA to 17-5 on the season, while Castleton ends their season at 2-17 overall. MMA now moves on the semi-finals on Saturday against the winner of Lesley University and Becker College. 

Elms Sweeps Maine-Farmington in NAC Tournament Quarterfinal

CHICOPEE, MA, Oct. 31, 2007 – Elms College junior outside hitter Jeannette Nunez (Canovanas, Puerto Rico) knocked down a team-high 11 kills and sophomore setter

Kim Phillips (Randolph, MA) handed out 23 assists to help pace the No. 3 Blazers to a 3-0 (30-26, 30-24, 31-29) win over No. 6 University of Maine-Farmington in the quarterfinal round of the North Atlantic Conference (NAC) Women’s Volleyball Tournament at the Maguire Center.

The Blazers (11-12), who were hosting their first conference tournament home match in the program’s six-year history, now advance to their first-ever NAC Tournament semifinal to face No. 2 Husson on Saturday, November 3. Husson advanced via its 3-0 over No. 7 Bay Path.

The semifinals and finals will be played at No. 1 Maine Maritime, which advanced to Saturday’s other semifinal following its 3-0 sweep over No. 8 Castleton.

Maine-Farmington, which lost its second match to Elms College in 11 days, was eliminated from the tournament and finished its season 10-14.

The Blazers roared out to a 7-0 lead against the Beavers in game one behind a combined three kills from sophomore opposite Amanda Konsewicz (Westfield, MA) and senior outside hitter Kristen Havey (Methuen, MA).

The Beavers answered with a 22-16 run to pull to within 23-22, but Nunez came up big with two kills and two aces over the final seven points to lift the Blazers to victory in game one.

In game two, sophomore middle hitter Melissa Clark (Chicopee, MA) added three kills, four aces and eight digs, and the Blazers capitalized on seven service errors by the Beavers en route to a 30-24 win.

Elms College then cruised out to a 29-24 lead and appeared poised for the easy sweep, but Maine-Farmington battled back with a 5-0 run to knot the game at 29-29.

Following a Maine-Farmington attack error, Nunez then added her final kill of the night to seal the Blazers’ victory.

The Beavers received a match-high 14 kills from senior middle hitter Meagan Dube (Lewiston, ME), while sophomore Caitlin Flaherty (Pembroke, MA) and freshman Katie Allen (Bucksport, ME) added 13 assists apiece.

Scary Lynx offense spooks Becker, 3-1

Cambridge, MA – With their Halloween night victory over Becker College, the Lesley University women’s volleyball team have finally won their first ever quarterfinal playoff game in the North Atlantic Conference. 

The #4 seed Lynx defeated the #5 seed Hawks 3-1 (28-30, 20-30, 30-22, 14-30) at home to advance to the NAC Semifinals on Saturday November 3 at 11 a.m.  All of the quarterfinal match winners will compete in a one-day tournament to determine the champions of the NAC. 

In this game, Lesley had vital contributions from several different players.  Sophomore middle hitter Lindsey Marek (Killingworth, CT) spiked 6 of her 15 kills in the fourth and final game to help put away the Hawks.  She also contributed to six total blocks, five of them were solo efforts.  Junior outside hitter Kelly Harrington (Toledo, OH) came in second on the team with 9 kills on 22 total attacks.  Harrington served six aces to lead the team as well.  Gianna Spaziante (Hawthorne, NY) was efficient as always, tallying 36 assists and chipping in with four kills and five aces of her own.  Hana Sakamoto (Tokyo, JAP) provided defensive wizardry for the Lynx, digging out 16 attacks from the opposition. 

The Lynx controlled most of the match for the first two games, but Becker gained momentum in the third as they rallied to take the game 30-22.  Lesley, however, was determined to get their first playoff victory and played an efficient fourth game as they won in impressive fashion. 

Despite the historic win, the Lynx will not settle for just one post-season victory.  Their next goal will be to topple #1 seed Maine Maritime Academy.  In their one previous regular season meeting, Lesley defeated the Mariners 3-2 in a dramatic home tri-match victory. 

Seeding has been announced for the North Atlantic Conference Volleyball Championship will begin quartfinal play Wednesday, October 31. Top seed Maine Maritime (14-5 overall), who tied with Husson atop the conference standings with a 7-1 mark, will host eighth seeded Castleton (2-15 overall, 1-7 NAC) in one quarterfinal. Husson (16-7 overall) will host seventh seed Bay Path (4-13 overall, 2-6 NAC).

Elms will enter as the tournament as the third seed. The Blazers (10-11 overall, 6-2 NAC) will host sixth seed Maine-Farmington (9-13 overall, 3-5 NAC) while fifth seed Becker (9-14 overall, 4-4 NAC) will travel to fourth seed Lesley (11-9 overall, 6-2 NAC).

The top eight teams qualify for the NAC Championship. Predetermined tiebreaking procedures were used to seed teams with identical conference winning percentages. Quarterfinal games will be played on Wednesday, October 31 at 7:00 p.m. at the higher seed. Quarterfinal winners will advance to the semifinals and finals held at the higher seed on Saturday, November 3. Semifinal game times for Saturday are 10:00 am and 12:00 p.m. with the championship at 2:00 p.m. The NAC Champion receives an automatic berth to the NCAA Division III Championship.