NEC co-regular season champions Long Island and Sacred Heart both emerged victorious in Saturday's semifinals and will meet with the NEC Women's Volleyball Tournament title at stake in Sunday's championship match in Brooklyn. The top-seeded Blackbirds swept #4 Robert Morris, 3-0, behind a 15-kill, nine dig performance from NEC Player of the Year Hanna Gibeau. Sacred Heart, the #2 seed, outsted #3 Central Connecticut State, 3-1, with Kimmee Roleder racking up 24 kills for the Pioneers. The two teams will take the floor at the WRAC at 3:00 pm on Sunday with the winner advancing to the NCAA Tournament. The match can be viewed live on NortheastConference.TV.
Click Here For Championship Headquarters
#1 Long Island 3, #4 Robert Morris 0 (25-13, 25-18, 25-14)
Click Here For Boxscore
Click Here For Highlights
Brooklyn, NY – The Long Island Blackbirds proved why were regular season co-champions as they advance to Sunday’s NEC final following a straight set victory over #4 seeded Robert Morris (25-13, 25-18, 25-14) in the first of two finals on Saturday afternoon on their home court at the Wellness, Recreation and Athletic Center in Brooklyn, NY.
2011 NEC Player of the Year Hanna Gibeau (Arvada, CO/Ralston Valley) led the charge for the Blackbirds tallied 15 kills and nine digs, hitting at a .333 clip. The sophomore had plenty of support from NEC Rookie of the Year Annika Foit (Hausach, Germany/Robert-Gerwig-Gymnasium) who amassed 11 kills and eight digs while Ashley Rice (Marlton, NJ/Cherokee) totaled six blocks in the effort. Senior Chelsey Stanton (Macungie, PA/Emmaus) was also a force on the court as she posted 11 digs.
While the Blackbirds racked up the first two points in the opening stanza the Colonials quickly tied things up, with both teams trading points to start off the first semi final. With the score tied at nine, LIU took control scoring nine un-answered points to take an 18-9 lead.
The second set did not come quite as easily for LIU as the two teams traded points for most of the game. First team All-Conference Colonial Hannah Veith (Columbus, OH/Worthington) put up solid numbers in the second game totaling five kills while Lindsey Monger (Rising Sun, MD/Rising Sun) notched eight digs. But 2011 NEC Setter of the Year Vera Djuric (Lazarevac, Serbia/Svetozar Markovic) helped the Blackbirds seal the deal in the deal in the second match, as she posted 13 assists, one more than her first set total of 12.
Long Island then jumped out to an early 5-1 lead in the third game but Robert Morris roared back and tied the score at 6-6, but it would be all Long Island from there on out. The Blackbirds sent back 12 blocks in the third set while Stanton notched seven of her 11 digs in the final set en-route to the 25-14 win.
#2 Sacred Heart 3, #3 Central Connecticut (25-19, 25-22, 17-25, 26-24)
Click Here For Boxscore
Click Here For Highlights
Brooklyn, NY -- It was a back and forth affair in semi-final number two as Central Connecticut State gave Sacred Heart just about all they could handle but ultimately fell to the defending NEC Champions 3-1 (25-19, 25-22, 17-25, 26-24).
The day belonged to the Pionner duo of Dianis Mercado (Vega Baja, Puerto Rico/Colegio Marista) and Kimmee Roleder (Pasadena, CA/Pasadena) who together posted over half of Sacred Heart’s 65 kills, with Mercado notching 15 and Roleder collecting 24. Mercado also tallied 11 digs while 2011 NEC Libero of the Year Jessica Colberg (Long Beach, CA/Long Beach Polytechnic) led the team with 17.
The Blue Devils jumped out to an early 6-3 lead but the Pioneer’s clawed right back to knot the score at 6. Down by one the Pioneers then tied the score again at 9-9 after an extended rally, but more importantly grabbed the momentum that ultimately led them to 25-19 win. All-Conference first teammer Roleder notched eight kills and two digs for the Pioneers while Alissa Young (La Verne, CA/Saint Lucy’s Priory) tallied 16 assists as the team recorded a .318 hitting percentage.
The second set was yet again a back-and-forth affair, which, much like the first set, started with Central taking a 10-5 lead. But the Pioneers rebounded from 16-9 deficit to tie the score at 17. And with the score at tied yet again tied 2010 Rookie of the Year Mercado put up a pair of critical blocks to allow the Pioneers to take set two 25-22.
Continuing the theme of the evening, Central Connecticut ran out to a 5-0 lead to start the third only to have the Pioneer’s march back yet again tying the score at eight apiece. But this time the Blue Devils reversed the trend and finished the third set with the 25-17 win.
As expected, the fourth set was a battle as the two squads traded points the entire game. With the score tied at 18 Mercado, who finished the day with 10 kills, delivered her a biggest of the day to put the Pioneers up 19-18, Young followed the sophomores lead and posted another kill to give Sacred Heart a 20-18 lead. But Central answered right back consecutive blocks from Emily Cochran (Adel, IA/Adel-DeSoto-Minburn). With emotions running high and the score at 24-22 Sacred Heart collected the next four points to take the match 26-24.
Cochran led the team with 18 kills and 13 digs while Emma La Maitre (Leesburg, VA/Heritage) notched a team high eight blocks.
The Pioneers will take on Long Island Sunday in the Championship match at 3:00 pm.