No.3-seeeded Skyhawks and No.2-seeded Wildcats meet in rematch from regular season in NCAA East Region Semifinal at 5 p.m.
NCAA East Regional Information Page
NCAA Division II Volleyball Championships Online Program
NCAA Division II Volleyball Championships Bracket
Remick leads the SKyhawks with 3.18 kills per set, having recorded double-figure totals in four straight matches (PHOTO BY Bob Blanchard) |
EASTON, Mass. (December 3, 2021) – After a first round sweep (25-18, 25-15, 25-20) against sixth-seeded Jefferson University on Thursday, third-seeded Stonehill College earned its first NCAA Tournament win in program history. The squad will look to continue their season and set another program first when it squares off against second-seeded Daemen College in semifinal round action of the 2021 NCAA Division II Volleyball Tournament's East Regional, hosted by American International College, at Henry A. Butova Gymnasium tonight at 5 p.m.
Tickets for the 2021 NCAA Division II East Region Volleyball Championship will go on sale 60 minutes prior to the first match on each day. Ticket prices are as follows: Adults: $10 Seniors, Children & Student $5. The regional will also be streamed live via NE10 NOW, with links available via stonehillskyhawks.com or via the NE10 NOW app live on their televisions through Apple TV, Android TV, Amazon Fire TV and Roku.
Stonehill (22-9, 10-3 NE10) advanced behind a combined 24 kills from senior captain Abby Remick nd sophomore Jentry Allen. Remick posted a match-high 14 kills in her NCAA Tournament debut, while Allen added ten. Senior setter Lauren Wilke contributed her 30th career double-double with 19 assists and 13 digs.
Daemen (23-7, 12-0 ECC) had to battle back from 2-1 down in its first round clash with seventh-seeded Bentley University to claim a five set triumph (25-17, 21-25, 18-25, 25-22, 15-10). Sophomore Olivia Alessi engineered the Wildcats balanced attack with 44 assists and ten digs, while freshman Amelia Armstrong recorded a team-high 11 kills and just one attack error for a .526 hitting percentage.
Stonehill is aiming to reach their first NCAA East Region Championship match to be played at AIC's Butova Gym on Saturday at 5 p.m., while Daemen seeks to return to the final for the second time after reaching the match in 2018. Tonight's second regional semifinal features fifth-seeded Holy Family University (25-4, 18-0 CACC) against top-seeded and host American International (28-6, 11-2 NE10) at 7:30 p.m. While the Yellow Jackets advanced with a sweep of No. 8 Southern Connecticut State University on Thursday, the Tigers fought back from two sets down to dispatch No. 4 University of New Haven in five (21-25, 22-25, 25-23, 27-25, 15-12) in the final first round match of the day at Butova last night.
Russell enters tonight's match 22 digs shy of 1,000 for her career (PHOTO BY Jan Volk/SportsPix) |
Stonehill, under the direction of Northeast-10 Conference Coach of the Year Craig Martin, in his third season is led by four All-NE10 selections, two of which have been named to the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Division II All-East Region team this week. The Skyhawks 22 wins are the most since winning 27 during their first NCAA Tournament season in 2011, posting a 22-5 clip since opening the season with four setbacks in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, which included a point where the Skyhawks earned 15 wins in 16 contests, and 20 wins in 22 matches.
Remick, an All-NE10 first team selection, and Russell, named to the All-NE10 third team, have both garnered All-East Region honors from the AVCA this week. Remick has reached double-figures in kills for four-straight matches and ranks in the top-10 in multiple offensive categories for the NE10: kills-359 (seventh) and kills per set-3.18 (sixth). Russell, the first in Stonehill history to surpass 500 digs in a season with her school-record 540 this season enters the night 22 digs shy of 1,000 for her career (83 matches). She ranks fifth in the NE10 with 4.74 digs per set and 13th with 0.34 service aces per set.
Senior Shannon Burgess and junior Basia Peragine round out Stonehill's All-NE10 quartet after being named to the second team. Burgess is contributing 1.99 kills and 0.67 blocks per set. Her strong ability to block shots ranked her in the top-15 in the NE10 (11th). Whereas her 289.5 points on the year is third on the team, and has produced eight double-figure kill totals this season. Peragine is second on the team to Remick with 2.85 kills per set, posting a .219 hitting percentage, and 0.38 blocks per set, while also second on the team in scoring with 355.0 points. She ranks 11th in the NE10 for kills per set and has totaled double-digit kills in a team-high 19 matches this season
Wilke has 30 career double-doubles and is averaging 7.41 assists per set (PHOTO BY Andrew Katsampes) |
Daemen, led by East Coast Conference Coach of the Year Stephanie Albano in her sixth season, entered the NCAA Tournament after sweeping the ECC Regular Season and Tournament Championships. The Wildcats have won their last ten matches after yesterday's first round win over Bentley.
Daemen features two All-ECC performers, led by postgrad Caitlyn Meyer, the ECC Player of the Year and ECC Libero of the Year, sophomore Jasmine Brundage. Being the ECC leader in kills per set (3.44) as well as Daemen's leader in total kills (339, second in ECC), Meyer was a four-time ECC Player of the Week honoree throughout the year. She tallied double figure kill totals in 22 of 29 matches and ranks fourth in hitting percentage (.285) and sixth in blocks per set (0.67) among the ECC leaders.
Meanwhile, fellow All-ECC representative, Brundage played a big part in the Daemen success and was a six-time ECC Defensive Player of the Week. She is the ECC leader in total digs (474) and digs per set (4.30). Brundage had 35 digs in yesterday's first round win and she now has recorded ten-plus digs in 26 of 30 matches.
Friday's matchup will be a rematch between the two schools as they faced off earlier in the season on September 18 with Daemen posting a 3-1 (25-17, 23-25, 25-14, 25-16) win over Stonehill at the Roberts Wesleyan Redhawks Invitational in Rochester, New York, on September 18 in the first-ever meeting between the two programs. Olessi posted a double-double with 17 assists and 11 digs for the Wildcats, with Meyer tallying ten kills. Remick posted 12 kills and nine digs, while Russell posted 31 digs for the Skyhawks.
2021 NCAA Division II East Regional
hosted by American International College, Springfield, Massachusetts
Thursday, December 2 | Quarterfinals
Match 1: No. 3 Stonehill 3, No. 6 Jefferson 0 (25-18, 25-15, 25-20)
Match 2: No. 2 Daemen 3, No. 7 Bentley 2 (25-17, 21-25, 18-25, 25-22, 15-10)
Match 3: No. 1 American International 3, No. 8 Southern Conn. State 0 (25-20, 25-19, 25-18)
Match 4: No. 5 Holy Family 3, No. 4 New Haven 2 (21-25, 22-25, 25-23, 27-25, 15-12)
Friday, December 3 | Semifinals
Match 5: No. 3 Stonehill vs. No. 2 Daemen, 5 p.m.
Match 6: No. 5 Holy Family at No. 1 American International, 7:30 p.m.
Saturday, December 4 | Championship
Match 7: Winner of Match 5 vs. the Winner of Match 6, 5 p.m.
For the latest on Stonehill Athletics, follow the Skyhawks via social media on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. Fans can also download the Stonehill Skyhawks "Front Row" mobile app, powered by PrestoSports, on iTunes and the Android Market.
