Skyhawks play in second semifinal match in three years
Remick led the quarterfinal match with 13 kills (PHOTO BY: Andrew Katsampes) |
EASTON, Massachusetts (November 20, 2019) – The Stonehill College volleyball who ended the regular season as the third seed in the Northeast-10 Conference standings will battle the second seeded American International College in a semifinal game on Friday, November 22 at 7:30 p.m. at the Dana Center in Waltham, Massachusetts.
Admission for Friday night's contest is $6 for adults, $4 for senior citizens and children and $1 for students with valid ID from an NE10 school. For those that cannot make it to Waltham, Massachusetts, live stats and a broadcast of the match will both be available via stonehillskyhawks.com. Also for those that have the newest generation of AppleTV, Amazon Firestick, Roku and Android TV, the game will be streamed on the NE10 Now app on those devices.
The winner will advance to the championship game to take on the winner of the top seeded Bentley University versus the fourth-seeded Saint Anselm College on Saturday, November 23 at the Falcons' home of the Dana Center.
The Skyhawks (17-9, 9-4 NE10) finished the regular season in a three-way tie between Saint Anselm College and New Haven University, earning the third seed, based on the team's record against the No. 6 Le Moyne College Dolphins, following a four-way tie breaker. This is the highest seed that Stonehill has earned since the 2014 season when Stonehill sat second. In quarterfinal play, Stonehill is now 7-2 in program history, not including the years that the Conference played in pool play prior to the semifinal rounds. Stonehill is 0-9 in semifinal Tournament play, heading into match the match on Friday. This is the Skyhawks' second appearance in three years in the semifinal round of the NE10 Tournament.
This season, Stonehill went on a five-game win streak, including wins over Saint Anselm College, Le Moyne College, the College of Saint Rose, Saint Michael's College, and Pace University. This is also the most winningest season since 2014 when the team went 21-8 overall and 11-3 in NE10 play, and went on to play in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. Currently the Skyhawks are No. 8 in the NCAA Division II East Region Poll.
Feeman tallied five aces and five blocks in the quarterfinal match (PHOTO BY: SportsPix) |
The Skyhawks got to this point behind a 3-0 victory over No. 6 Le Moyne College on Tuesday at Merkert Gymnasium in a quarterfinal matchup. Stonehill's .245 hitting percentage was the difference in the shutout, as Le Moyne averaged .134 at the net. Junior Sophia Poveda registered her 20th-career double-double with 12 kills and 11 digs, while sophomore Abby Remick led the match with 13 kills. Sophomore Clare Feeman notched five aces and five blocks in the win, while two other Skyhawks tallied double-digit digs, including Rachel Dunlavy and Carly Russell with 10 each.
In the Conference, Stonehill is ranked third in kills per set (12.51) and assists per set (11.69), seventh in blocks per set (1.52), eighth in hitting percentage (.175) and aces per set (1.80), and 11th in digs per set (15.37).
American International College (13-16, 10-3 NE10) made its way to a NE10 Quarterfinal match with only three loses in NE10 play and Bentley University's, the regular season champion, only loss in the season. The Yellow Jackets also went undefeated in the month of October going 8-0 with eight-straight wins over Conference opponents.
American International defeated No. 7 Franklin Pierce University in quarterfinal play on Tuesday with a 3-1 victory. Four Yellow Jackets went on to tally double-digit kills, including NE10 Player of the Year Andrea Serra with 27 kills along with her 11 digs for one of their double-doubles on the night. Naomi Eckert also tallied a double-double with 54 assists and 12 digs, as well as Jana Potic with 13 kills, 15 digs. Eckert tallied five blocks in the win, while Mai-Lai Hernandez recorded a match-high six blocks.
As a team, the Yellow Jackets are ranked second in kills per set (12.63) and assists per set (11.70), third in digs per set (17.22), fourth in hitting percentage (.191), ninth in blocks per set (1.46), and 12th in aces per set (1.60).
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