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March 28, 2011
2011 NECVA Tournament Field Announced
JERSEY CITY,
NJ…The regular season is nearing completion, the
divisional champions have been crowned and the selections for the
17th and final North East Collegiate Volleyball
Association championship tournament have been determined. After
more than three months of competition, the field of 16 which will
compete for the 2011 NECVA Championship from Friday, April 1
through Sunday, April 3 at Stevens Institute of Technology in
Hoboken, NJ was announced Monday by the NECVA Tournament Selection
Committee. The 2011 NECVA champion will receive the league’s
automatic bid to the Molten Division III Men’s Invitational
Volleyball Championship, to be held at Nazareth College in
Rochester, New York on April 15-16. If Nazareth wins the NECVA
championship, the league’s runner-up will also qualify for
the Molten Championship.
Overall, the
conference’s six divisional champions—CUNYAC, GNAC,
Metro, New England, Skyline and UVC Divisions—plus 10
at-large selections from among the 40 other eligible schools in the
league, will battle for the 17th NECVA championship. The
UVC Division matched a league record with five schools qualifying,
while the GNAC, Metro and New England Divisions each had three
selections. The CUNYAC and Skyline champions complete the
field.
Nazareth College, which last
year stunned the tournament when it won its first NECVA
championship, doing so as the 15th seed, won’t
have the chance to play the role of Cinderella this season. The
Golden Flyers, the #2 ranked in the country, are 25-3 and the UVC
Division champions are the No. 1 overall seed in the 2011 NECVA
Tournament. Nazareth makes its sixth straight NECVA Tournament
appearance. Naz has won 16 consecutive matches and went undefeated
(9-0) in the UVC regular season action. The No. 16 seed is Lasell
College (22-14). The Lasers make their first-ever NECVA Tournament
appearance—the only first-time qualifier in the 2011 field.
Lasell was third in the GNAC regular season standings before
advancing to the division’s championship match.
Rivier College (31-8), the
GNAC Division champions, claims the #2 seed in the
conference tournament. Rivier, the 2006 NECVA champions, will
make its 11th consecutive NECVA Tournament appearance since 2001.
The Raiders will face #15th seeded Bard College (20-11).
The Raptors, who were Skyline Division regular season and
tournament champions, qualify for the NECVA Tournament for only the
second time in program history and the first time since
2006.
Baruch College (30-12),
which won its third consecutive CUNYAC Division championship this
season, is the tournament’s No. 3 seed. It is the eighth
consecutive appearance in the tournament and 10th overall. Ramapo
College (16-10) is the No. 14 seed. After a sluggish start to the
year, the Roadrunners have won eight of their last 10 matches and
make their 15th tournament appearance—tied for
most all-time—and qualify for the sixth year in a
row.
Metro Division champion
Philadelphia Biblical University (21-10) is the #4 seed for the
second year in a row. The Crimson Eagles, which were 12-0 in their
first year as a Metro Division member, make their sixth tournament
appearance and fifth straight. PBU was the 2010 tournament
runners-up. The No. 13 seed is Newbury College (23-11), the third
place squad from the New England Division. The Nighthawks make
their sixth appearance in the tournament and fifth in a
row.
Massachusetts Institute of
Technology won the New England Division title and the Engineers
(28-6) are the No. 5 seed. MIT qualifies for its seventh
consecutive NECVA Tournament. The No. 12 seed is Stevenson
University (24-6). The extremely young Mustangs squad, the third
team selected from the Metro Division, qualifies for only its
second NECVA Tournament, and first since 2006.
Emmanuel College (26-8) is
the highest seeded at-large team and the GNAC regular season
runners up (11-1) earn their highest seeding in its history. The
Saints make their fifth tournament appearance overall, qualifying
in consecutive years. The Boston, Massachusetts program will meet
another Boston-area opponent in the first round, when it faces No.
11 seeded Endicott College (22-12). The Gulls, runners-up in the
New England Division, make their eighth NECVA Tournament appearance
and fifth in a row.
The 7/10 and 8/9 matches
feature UVC opponents squaring off. Medaille College (21-5) was 8-1
in the UVC Division regular season and despite falling in the UVC
quarterfinals, earns the No. 7 seed in the 2011 NECVA Tournament.
The talented Mavericks make their 11th appearance in the tournament
and eighth in a row. Their first-round opponent will be Vassar
College (17-11), the 10th seed. The Brewers make their
fourth straight tournament appearance since joining the NECVA, and
won the league championship in 2008.
Stevens (16-11), which is
hosting the tournament for the sixth time, but the first year since
2001, draws the No. 8 seed. The Ducks finished third in the UVC
regular season standings (7-2) and tie Ramapo with its record
15th tournament appearance and 14th in a row.
Stevens, which won the 2009 NECVA title, has won the NECVA
championship four times and in each odd-numbered year since 2003
(2003, 2005, 2007, and 2009). The No. 9 seed is SUNY New Paltz
(20-12). Despite finishing in sixth place in the UVC regular season
standings (3-6), the Hawks made a decisive run to the divisional
title match, losing at Nazareth in a five-set marathon, 30-32,
18-25, 25-19, 25-23, 18-16, to, greatly enhance its post-season
positioning. New Paltz makes its seventh appearance in the
championship.
The tournament opens with
eight first-round matches on Friday, April 1. Four quarterfinal and
two semifinal matches will be contested on Saturday, April 2. That
evening, the annual conference banquet will be held at the
Meadowlands Plaza Hotel in Secaucus, NJ, where the All-Conference
Team, 2011 NECVA Hall of Fame class, and the winner of The David
Hildebrandt Rising Star Award will be unveiled. The NECVA
Championship will be decided on Sunday, April 3 at 1
p.m.
—www.necva.org—
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2011 NORTH EAST COLLEGIATE VOLLEYBALL ASSOCIATION
TOURNAMENT
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April 1-3; Steven
Institute of Technology
Hoboken, New
Jersey
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First Round (Friday,
April 1)
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MATCH #1: (1) Nazareth
College (25-3) vs. (16) Lasell College (22-14), 12
p.m.
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Box
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Recap
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MATCH #2: (2) Rivier College
(31-8) vs. (15) Bard College (20-11), 2 p.m.
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Box
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Recap
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MATCH #3: (3) Baruch College
(30-12) vs. (14) Ramapo College (16-10), 12 p.m.
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Box
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Recap
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MATCH #4: (4) Philadelphia
Biblical University (21-10) vs. (13) Newbury College (23-11), 2
p.m.
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Box
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Recap
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MATCH #5: (5) Massachusetts
Institute of Technology (28-6) vs. (12) Stevenson University
(24-16), 4 p.m.
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Box
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Recap
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MATCH #6: (6) Emmanuel
College (26-8) vs. (11) Endicott College(22-12), 4
p.m.
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Box
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Recap
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MATCH #7: (7) Medaille
College (21-5) vs. (10) Vassar College (17-11), 6 p.m.
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Box
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Recap
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MATCH #8: (8) Stevens
Institute of Technology (16-11) vs. (9) SUNY New Paltz (20-12), 6
p.m.
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Box
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Recap
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Quarterfinals (Saturday,
April 2)
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MATCH #9: Winner of Match #1
vs. Winner of Match #8, 11 a.m.
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Box
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Recap
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MATCH #10: Winner of Match
#2 vs. Winner of Match #7, 11 a.m.
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Box
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Recap
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MATCH #11: Winner of Match
#3 vs. Winner of Match #6, 1 p.m.
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Box
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Recap
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MATCH #12: Winner of Match
#4 vs. Winner of Match #5, 1 p.m.
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Box
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Recap
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Semifinals (Saturday,
April 2)
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MATCH #13: Winner of Match
#9 vs. Winner of Match #12, 4 p.m.
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Box
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Recap
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MATCH #14: Winner of Match
#10 vs. Winner of Match #11, 4 p.m.
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Box
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Recap
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Finals (Sunday, April
3)
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MATCH #15: Winner of Match
#13 vs. Winner of Match #14, 1 p.m.
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Box
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Recap
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