Coast Guard Takes 2011 ECAC New England Women's Volleyball Championship
(Story Courtesy of Coast Guard Sports Information)
NEW LONDON, CONN.--(11/12/11)--Tournament Most Outstanding
Player Karen Matic had a career-high 17 kills to go with 12 digs
and a team-high 25 assists leading top-seeded Coast Guard to the
ECAC Division III New England Championship with a 3-1 win over
second-seeded Plymouth State.
Coast Guard, which completed the season with a perfect 13-0 record
at home, won its fourth ECAC Championship and second in three
years. The Bears also won the ECAC Championship in 2002, 2005 and
2009. The Bears beat Plymouth State 3-1 in the 2009 ECAC
Championship game in Plymouth, New Hampshire.
The Bears, who finish the season 26-6, won by game scores of 23-25,
25-17, 25-23, 25-18. Plymouth State, playing in its third ECAC
Championship game in the last four seasons, finished 25-11. The
Panthers won the 2008 ECAC Championship.
The Panthers led the opening game 13-7 before the Bears closed the
gap to 16-15 with an 8-3 run. Coast Guard took its first lead at
20-19 before the Panthers ran off four straight for a 23-20 lead.
The Bears scored three straight to tie the score 23-23 before
Plymouth scored the next two for the 25-23 win.
Coast Guard evened things in the second game as the Bears scored
five straight to open up a 17-11 lead and won 25-17.
The Bears appeared to be cruising to a 2-1 lead up 19-11 in the
third set before the Panthers behind the serving of sophomore
Kaitlyn Tedeschi scored ten straight for a 21-19 lead. Coast Guard
battled back to tie it at 22-22 and with the score tied 23-23 a
service error followed by an ace by freshman Kelsey Hickle gave the
Bears the 25-23 win.
Plymouth scored five straight to take a 9-4 lead in the fourth set
before Coast Guard quickly responded with five straight of their
own to tie it at 9-9.
The Bears later scored four straight to take an 18-14 lead enroute
to the 25-18 win.
Matic had ten kills and a team-high 14 assists in the 3-0 semifinal
win over fourth-seeded Keene State earlier in the day for Coast
Guard.
Sophomore Kelsey DePorto had 14 kills, seven digs and a team-high
six blocks, junior Keriann Mason added ten kills and 15 digs while
Catherine Walker finished with eight kills and 11 digs.
Sophomore Sam Marmolejo had a match-high 28 digs for the Bears
while freshman Elise Sako added 15 assists and nine digs in the
win.
Sophomore Allie Jones led the Panthers with 17 kills and four aces
while junior Casey Stoodley added ten kills and 17 digs. Senior
Danielle Stoodley led the way with 21 digs while classmate Sarah
Cady closed out her career with a match-high 37 assists.
The Panthers advanced to the championship match with a
come-from-behind 3-2 win over third-seeded Endicott in the
semifinals earlier in the day.
Coast Guard, the New England Women’s and Men’s Athletic
Conference (NEWMAC) regular season co-champions, were making their
10th postseason appearance in the last 11 years, eight of those in
the ECAC tournament.
New England Release | Bracket | Preview
Schedule:
Quarterfinal
Round – Wednesday, November 9
No. 1 U.S Coast Guard Acad. def. No. 8 Framingham State Univ.
3-0 recap
No. 2 Plymouth State Univ. def. No. 7 Western New England Univ.,
3-1 box score | recap
No. 3 Endicott College def. No. 6 Emmanuel College, 3-2 box score | recap
No. 4 Keene State College def. No. 5 Salve Regina, 3-2 box score | recap
Semifinal Round
– Saturday, November 12 (at Coast
Guard)
No. 1 U.S. Coast Guard Acad. def. No. 4 Keene State College,
3-0 results
No. 2 Plymouth State Univ. def. No. 3 Endicott College,
3-2 boxscore | recap
Championship
Game – Saturday, November 12 (at
Coast Guard)
U.S. Coast Guard Academy def. Plymouth State, 3-1
recap
