In women's volleyball, Lord Jeffs sweep Emmanuel, Warriors down UNE
Below: Samantha Slonski
WILLIMANTIC, Conn. - Cristy Meier had 20 kills and Rachel Yorke 12 digs as the Amherst College women's volleyball team snapped the ten-match winning streak of Emmanuel College with a sweep in the opening match of the 29th Annual Crabtree Classic Friday night at Francis E. Geissler Gymasium.
In the second of two matches, the host Warriors rebounded from a two-point first-game loss to down the University of New England in four games.
Amherst (12-3) posted 25-17, 25-19, 25-13 wins over Emmanuel (13-5) and Eastern (9-11) came back from a 26-24 loss to claim 25-21, 25-17 victories over New England (6-9).
The first match featured Amherst's power against the digging ability of Emmanuel. Amherst never trailed in the first game and was behind only once by a point in Game 2 before bouncing back from an early 4-1 deficit in Game 3 to pull away for the win. With the score tied at 10 in Game 3, the Lord Jeffs outscored the Saints 10-2 to opne up a 20-12 lead.Jackie Berkley had a kill and block assist and Meier had three kills.
Eastern's Kristianna Ibsen (Shelton) entered the match against New England in the second game, where she served and attacked the Warriors into an early lead. Ibsen was 6-for-8 without an attack error in that game. After losing the first game, Eastern trailed 21-20 in Game 2. At that point, Ibsen had three kills and Ashley Tuggle (South Windsor) closed out the win with a service ace.
The Warriors scored the final four points of Game 3 en route to the four-point win. Ibsen broke the tie with successive kills, New England commited an attack error, and Samantha Slonski (Griswold) collected her eighth kill of the game to give Eastern a 2-1 lead. The Warriors broke to a 12-2 lead in the final game behind Slonski (four kills in the game) and the Nor'easters never got closer than seven the rest of the way.
Eastern setter Britt Carrier (Southington) had 41 assists - her highest total since she recorded 44 in the opening match of the season.
New England scored the first four and last four points of the first game, with Kristen Edwards and Claire Varner contributing big kills in the final stages of that game.
Each team will play three matches in the four-team, round-robin tournament. Eastern is the defending champion. The Warriors won three of four matches in last year's five-team tournament, and New England split four.
29th Annual Crabtree Classic
Women's Volleyball Invitational
At Willimantic, Conn.
Friday's Results
Amherst College 3, Emmanuel College 0
Amherst College (12-3) 25 25 25
Emmanuel College (13-5) 17 19 13
Statistical leaders:
Amherst College
Cristy Meier 20 kills
Katherine Kanoff 5 kills
Rachel Yorke 12 digs, 14 rec. attempts, 1 error
Kristin Keeno 7 digs
Callie Neilson 22 assists
Laura Hyman 6 kills, 3 blocks
Jackie Berkley 2 blocks
Emmanuel College
Megan Clary 16 digs
Jenna Ross 15 digs, 16 rec. attempts with 0 errors, 4 kills
Samantha Andazola 20 rec. attempts with 1 error
Kathryne Olsen 21 assists
Nicole McAllister 5 kills
Diana Grimaldi 5 kills
Eastern Conn. 3, U. of New England 1
U. New England (6-9) 26 22 21 17
Eastern Conn. (9-11) 24 25 25 25
Statistical leaders:
U. of New England
Lindsey Cashell 9 kills with a .389 attack pct., 8 digs
Kristen Edwards 7 kills with a .300 attack pct., 4 blocks
Angie Gust 19 digs
Ellen Choinski 17 assists
Paige Curran 4 blocks
Eastern Conn.
Samantha Slonski 18 kills with a .245 attack pct., 11 digs, 2 blocks, 18 rec. attempts with 0 errors
Kristianna Ibsen 11 kills with a .563 atack pct., 2 blocks
Britt Carrier 41 assists, 5 kills, 2 blocks
Taylor Abelli 11 digs, 4 aces
Ashley Tuggle 9 digs, 2 aces
Saturday's Schedule
U. of New England vs. Emmanuel College, 10 a.m.
Eastern Conn. vs. Emmanuel College, noon
Amherst College vs. U. of New England, 2 p.m.
Amherst College vs. Eastern Conn., 4 p.m.
