Lady Mariners Win NAC Championship and Earn Berth to NCAA Tournament

Castine, Maine - The Lady Mariner volleyball team hosted the North Atlantic Conference Championships on Saturday and came away victorious, beating Lesley University and Husson College to win the championship. MMA held off Lesley University 3-2 and then ran past Husson College 3-0 to earn the NAC automatic qualifier to the NCAA Tournament.

In the first match the #1 seeded Maine Maritime Lady Mariners beat the #4 seeded Lesley University Lynx by the score of 3-2 (29-31, 25-30, 30-22, 30-26, 15-7). The Lady Mariners fought back from a two game deficit to beat the Lynx and advance to the championship game. Michelle Ferry (Princeton, ME) had 19 kills (.486%) and 21 digs to lead MMA. Ashley Tilton (pictured left) added 11 kills and 27 digs while Becca Allen (Bucksport, ME) collected 41 assists. Amy Young (Cumberland, ME) and Kristi Gordon (Auburn, ME) had 11 and 10 kills respectively in the match. Lesley University, which ends it’s season 14-11, was led by Lindsey Marek’s (Killingworth, CT) 13 kills and 3 blocks. Gianna Spaziante (Hawthorne, NY) had 25 assists and 7 digs, while Hana Sakamoto (Tokyo, Japan) had 17 digs. Jackie Ungaro (Valley Stream, NY) and Beth Hoilund (Germantown, NY) ended with 12 and 11 kills respectively. With the victory MMA improves to 18-5 on the year.

In the second semi-final match of the day, the Eagles of Husson College (#2 seed) defeated the Blazers from Elms College (3# seed) by the score of 3-0 (30-28, 31-29, 30-15). The win moves the Eagles into the championship game against Maine Maritime Academy. The Eagle’s were led by Allison Chepke’s (N. Jackson, OH) 12 kills and 12 digs. Marion Kish (Wallingford, CT) had 30 assists, while Cassandra O’Neil (Manchester, NH) added 10 kills. The win moves the Eagles to 20-10 on the year.

Elms College, which ends it’s season at 11-13 was led by NAC Player of the Year, Jeannette Nunez (Carolina, Puerto Rico) who had 8 kills and 10 digs in the match. Kim Phillips (Randolph, MA) led the Blazers with 20 assists and two aces, while Kristen Havey (Methuen, MA) finished with 18 digs.

The championship game featured the Lady Mariners and Husson College Eagles going head to head. This was the 5^th meeting of the year for these two teams. MMA controlled play and won the match 3-0 (30-21, 30-26, 30-12). MMA secured the championship behind the efforts of Ashley Tilton who collected 17 kills and 14 digs. Becca Allen had 25 assists and 26 digs in the match as well. Amy Young was outstanding collecting 7 kills, 5 assists, 9 aces, 11 digs, and 4 blocks. MMA improves to 19-5 on the season and will be advancing to the NCAA Tournament. The loss ends Husson’s season and drops them to 20-11 overall. Cassandra O’Neil led the Eagles with 7 kills in the match and Marion Kish dished out 15 assists. Kish also had 12 digs while Allison Chepke had 5 kills.

The following players were selected to the 2007 North Atlantic Conference Volleyball Championships All-Tournament Team:

Hana Sakamoto – Lesley University

Sashiann Johnson – Elms College

Allison Chepke – Husson College

Marion Kish – Husson College

Casey Morey – Maine Maritime

Michelle Ferry – Maine Maritime

Tournament MVP:

Ashley Tilton – Maine Maritime