 |  |
UMass-Boston Comes From Behind to Reach the NCAA Division III New England Women's Volleyball Regional Final
Springfield College -- November 12, 2011 -- UMass-Boston, the NCAA Division III New England Women's Volleyball Champion in 2010, has put itself in position to repeat in 2011. The Beacons defeated Bowdoin this afternoon in the first semifinal of the day. Game scores were 23-25, 25-15, 17-25, 25-18, 15-7.
The #2-seeded Beacons (28-4) now await the winner of the second semifinal, which pits #1-seeded Springfield vs. #4-seeded Tufts.
Last season, it was UMass-Boston and Springfield battling it out for the New England title.
The star of the day today for UMB was Shannon Thompson, who finished with a match-high 21 kills. She also had 15 digs, two service aces, and four blocks.
Others who heavily contributed included Kirsten Morrison and Molly Rattigan, as well as Kayla Wilson. Morrison finished with eight kills and six blocks. Rattigan had eight kills and just one error in 16 attempts for a .438 hitting percentage. Wilson had six service aces and 25 digs.
Brooke Nemethy finished with nine kills, three service aces, and five digs. Corinne Porter also had 17 digs. Cassy Hanneman ended with 48 set assists, and added 11 digs.
For Bowdoin, which ended the season with a 27-3 record, it was Melissa Haskell with a team-high 13 kills, followed by Ellie Brennan with 12 kills. Kristin Hanczor had nine kills for the Polar Bears. Sophia Cornew finished with 43 set assists and 19 digs.
Five players from Bowdoin had 11 digs or more. They were Taylor Vail with 25, Cornew with 19, Hillary Cederna with 15, Haskell with 12, and Jillian Berkman with 11.
UMass-Boston finished with a .157 hitting percentage, while Bowdoin ended with a .127 percentage. UMass-Boston had a .217 hitting percentage in game four, however, when it really needed it. Bowdoin's game-three percentage of .379 was the best of the match for any one particular game.
