Saint Vincent 3, Adelphi 0 (30-20, 30-22, 30-27)

MVP:  Jaime Kelly, Saint Vincent

Lady Bearcats win ECAC title

The Saint Vincent College Lady Bearcats won the Eastern College Athletic Conference Division II championship, sweeping Adelphi University, 3-0.

Game scores were 30-20, 30-22 and 30-27.

"We did an outstanding job," said Lady Bearcat coach Sue Hozak.  "You could see it in our players' eyes that they were not going to lose.

Saint Vincent came out on fire in the first game of the afternoon, jumping out to a quick 11-3 lead on a Krystin Lowers spike.  The team's advantage eventually grew to 20-11 before Adelphi rallied and pulled to within four at 20-16.  The Lady Bearcats then retook the momentum, closing the game out on a 10-4 run.

Game two was much of the same, with the Lady Bearcats taking a 9-2 lead right off the bat.  After an Adelphi time out, the Panthers came charging back, finding themselves down just 13-12, but the Lady Bearcat senior tandem of Shannon McVay and Emily Ecoff then took charge, each recording a pair of spikes while stretching the lead to seven at 21-14.

Adelphi refused to quit, and closed the gap to four points on two different occasions at 24-20 and 26-22, but SVC sophomore Jaime Kelly recorded the final two points on two powerful putaways to give SVC the 30-22 win.

Kelly, who was chosen as the match's most valuable player after recording a double-double with 14 kills and 10 digs, received high praise from coach Sue Hozak.

"She definitely deserved the MVP," said the coach.  "She did an outstanding job today, coming up with big hits when we needed them.  She's been doing it all year, and it's great to see a sophomore perform like that."

The third game of the day proved to be the closest, with the visitors leading throughout the entire first half of th e contest.  Another kill by Kelly allowed the Lady Bearcats to tie it up at 14, and they finally pulled ahead 16-15 after a putaway by Ecoff.

Adelphi then tied it once again, but three kills by McVay gave the Lady Bearcats a 24-20 lead.  The Panthers then went on a 6-1 run, going ahead 26-25, until Kelly tied the score with another kill.  A Lauren Paddick spike then put SVC ahead to stay as they went on to win the game, the match, and the ECAC title.

It was Saint Vincent's first game action in two weeks, and Hozak was plesantly surprised with her squad's intensity.

"It was great to see how sharp we were," she said, "after a long layoff like that."

Ecoff and McVay, who, along with Lowers were playing in the final match of their careers, each recorded nine kills, while Ecoff led the defense with 19 digs and McVay paced the team with six blocks.

"Winning the championship like this was a great way for Emily, Krystin, and Shannon to end their collegiate careers," Hozak said.

Sophomore Breanne Ezarik also had a solid game defensively, recording 19 digs, while junior setter Kristin Hozak tallied 43 assists, giving her 1,496 on the season, the second highest single-season total in school history.

Saint Vincent now finishes the season with a 29-4 record, the best in the team's 22-year history.  The Lady Bearcats closed out the year on a school-best 20 match winning streak, with 19 of those victories coming in three games.

"Going into the season," said Hozak, "I was really unsure of how the players would react after losing five starters from last year.  My expectations were totally exceeded.  It was an outstanding season."