WALTHAM, Mass. – The Brandeis University volleyball team
took a step closer to defending its Eastern College Athletic
Conference New England Division III title today as the top-seeded
Judges defeated No. 8 seed Plymouth State University, 3-0. Game
scores were 30-20, 30-18, 30-10.
Brandeis (26-10) only trailed briefly in the match, at the start of
games one and three. The Judges won seven out of eight points to
turn a 2-2 tie in game one into a 9-3 lead, while 9-2 run in game
two increased the lead from 10-9 to 19-11. Brandeis was never
challenged in game three after dropping the first point, jumping
out to a 7-2 advantage and never looking back.
The Judges were paced by junior outside hitter Lorraine Wingenbach
(Buffalo, N.Y.), who had 13 kills, including the 1500th of her
career. She is the second player in school history to reach that
plateau. Wingenbach also had nine digs. Sophomore middle hitter
Bridget McAllister (Santa Clara, Calif.) had 11 kills and a .409
hitting percentage. Rookie setter Abby Blasco (Greeley, Colo.) led
the squad with 36 assists, 13 digs and four service aces.
Plymouth State (20-12) was led offensively by sophomore middle
hitter Eliza Badeau (Foster, R.I.), who had seven kills and four
blocks. Junior libero Sarah Spears (Meredith, N.H.) paced the team
defensively with 14 digs, while sophomore setter Brianna Kleckner
(Terryville, Conn.) had 14 assists.
Brandeis will now host the ECAC tournament semifinals and finals on
Saturday, Nov. 10. The Judges will take on No. 5 seed Keene State
at 11 a.m., with second-seeded U.S. Coast Guard Academy facing No.
3 Colby-Sawyer in the other semifinal at 1 p.m. The championship
match will take place at 4 p.m. on Saturday.
Top-seeded volleyball advances to ECAC semis with sweep of Plymouth State
Posted: Nov 07, 2007