Women's Volleyball Concludes Regular Season with Consecutive Home Matches
Links: Live Stats (Pace) | Live Stats (Adelphi) | Video (Free!) | Follow @MerrimackVB
NORTH ANDOVER, Mass. – The Merrimack College women's volleyball team makes its final push to the postseason as the Warriors battle Pace and Adelphi on back-to-back nights this weekend, starting tonight against the Setters at 7 p.m.
The Basics
Date/Time: 11/07-11/08 | 7 p.m. & 5 p.m.
Records: Merrimack (15-7, 7-5 NE-10) | Pace (4-21, 1-11 NE-10) | Adelphi (13-13, 10-3 NE-10)
Location: Bert Hammel Court | North Andover, Mass.
Last Time Out:
Merrimack defeated St. Michael's College, 3-0, in a Norhteast-10 contest played out in Colchester, Vt. The Warriors have now won five straight matches for the second time this season. The Navy and Gold won a season-high seven matches in a row over the final three weeks of September.
Three Warriors finished with double-digit kills, led by senior Stephanie Sheehan (Smithtown, N.Y.) with 13. Senior Aliya Rakhmetova (Arlington, Va.) posted one of the best matches of her career, notching 12 kills with zero errors for a .600 hitting percentage. Senior Corrine Gosselin (Lawrence, Mass.) also finished with 10 kills.
For the 11th time this season, sophomore setter Tara Stuhr (Huntington Beach, Calif.) compiled at least 40 assists in a match, dishing out 45 against the Purple Knights. Junior libero Madison Burke (San Jose, Calif.) recorded a team-high 23 digs.
Last Season vs. Pace:
It took five sets for the Warriors to defeat the Setters last season. Merrimack won the second and third sets, before losing the fourth and fighting back to win the final frame.
Sheehan tied her career high with 28 kills against Pace. Gosselin also had a strong match, finishing third on the team with 13 kills.
Stuhr set her career high with 58 assists last year against the Setters.
Last Season vs. Adelphi:
The Warriors played the Panthers on the back end of back-to-back matches, dropping the match against Adelphi, 3-0.
Sheehan led the way with 12 of the team's 24 kills on the afternoon. Stuhr posted a 20-assist effort to lead the Warriors.
This year, the Navy and Gold will celebrate Senior Day against Adelphi, honoring seniors Allison Cote (Chelmsford, Mass.), Gosselin, Rakhmetova, Taciane Santos (Everett, Mass.), Sheehan and Katie Wilcox (Pembroke, Mass.) with a prematch ceremony.
The Setters:
- Pace comes into North Andover losers of seven consecutive matches. The Setters lone NE-10 victory came in a five-set thriller over St. Michael's
- Alyssa Marchino is the lone player on the team averaging over 2.00 kills per set. She tops the Setters with 178 kills
- Libero Rebecca Italiano leads the squad with 4.12 digs per set
The Panthers:
- Ten of Adelphi's wins have come within NE-10 play, ranking fourth in the conference despite a 3-10 non-conference record
- Katelyn DeStefano leads the conference with a .356 hitting percentage and 1.18 blocks per set.
- The Panthers boast a two-setter attack, as Alayna Jackson and Megan Manierski total 7.70 and 5.94 assists per set, respectively, this season
NE-10 Playoff Outlook
Top-eight teams qualify
1. New Haven (11-2)
2. Stonehill (10-2)
3. Bentley (10-2)
4. Adelphi (10-3)
5. Saint Rose (8-4)
6. Southern New Hampshire (8-5)
7. Merrimack (7-5)
8. Le Moyne (7-5)
9. Franklin Pierce (7-6)
10. Saint Anselm (5-7)
11. Assumption (4-9)
12. Southern Connecticut (3-10)
13. American International (2-11)
14. Pace (1-11)
15. Saint Michael's (1-12)
Up Next
After these two matches, Merrimack will await its opponent in the Northeast-10 Quarterfinals, which begin on Tuesday.
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