Quarterfinal Games - Wednesday, November 8

Game #1 - No. 1 Brandeis University 3,  No. 8 Framingham State, 0
Game #2 - No. 2 Plymouth State 2, No. 7 Johnson and Wales 3
Game #3 - No. 3 Colby-Sawyer College 3,  No. 6 Western New England College, 0 (30-22, 30-24, 30-25)
Game #4 - No. 4 Keene State 3, No. 5 Rivier College, 1

Semifinals - Saturday, November 11th at Brandeis

Game #5 - Brandeis 3, Keene State 0
Game #6 - Johnson & Wales 1,  Colby Sawyer, 3

Championship - Saturday, November 11th at Brandeis

Brandeis 3, Colby Sawyer 0

MVP -  Lorraine Wingenbach  - Brandeis

BRANDEIS VOLLEYBALL WINS FIRST ECAC CROWN WITH 3-0 WIN OVER COLBY-SAWYER
 
WALTHAM, Mass. - The top-seeded Brandeis University volleyball team won its first-ever ECAC Division III New England crown today as the Judges swept No. 3 seeded Colby-Sawyer College, 3-0, in Red Auerbach Arena today.

Brandeis (22-17) wasn't tested in the championship match, winning by game scores of 30-19, 30-19, 30-17. The Judges hit for a season-high hitting .424 percentage in the title match, registering 47 kills and just eight errors in 92 attempts. Sophomore outside hitter Lorraine Wingenbach (Buffalo, N.Y.) was the team's offensive star against CSC, with 12 kills and no errors in 28 attempts. She also had six digs to lead the team. Rookie middle blocker Piera Carfagno (Los Angeles, Calif.) matched her Wingenbach for team-high honors with 12 kills, while classmate Bridget McAllister (Santa Clara, Calif.) had a fine all-around match with six kills, five digs, four blocks and two service aces.

Wingenbach was named the tournament MVP for the Judges. She led the squad with 44 kills in nine games over three matches, hitting for a phenomenal .463 percentage. She also had a fine defensive tournament with a team-high 23 digs.

In its final match of the season, Colby-Sawyer (21-14) was paced by senior setter Jessica Niebuhr (Manitou Springs, Colo.) who had 22 assists, including the 4000th of her career, coming at 3-2 of the third game. She was the first player in Charger history to reach that plateau. Niebuhr also had seven digs and six service aces in the losing effort. Sophomore Megan Estabrook (Newton, Mass.) had a team-hig eight kills added five service aces, while rookie Megan White (Monroe, Conn.) had five kills and an ace.

With today's win, the Judges completed a perfect season at home, going 10-0 and losing just one game in the process. This is their fifth ECAC tournament appearance and was the second time in the finals.

In the semifinals earlier in the day, Brandeis defeated No. 4-seed Keene State, 31-29, 30-26, 30-11, while CSC needed four games to dispatch No. 7 Johnson and Wales, 25-30, 30-17, 30-26, 30-23.

ECAC DIVISION III NEW ENGLAND VOLLEYBALL CHAMPIONSHIPS SEMIFINALS
Brandeis def. Keene State, 3-0 (31-29, 30-26, 30-11)
Colby-Sawyer def. Johnson & Wales, 3-1 (25-30, 30-17, 30-26, 30-23)

WALTHAM, Mass. - The top-seeded Brandeis University volleyball team earned a berth in the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Division III New England tournament championship game today with a 31-29, 30-26, 30-11, win over No. 4 seed Keene State College. The Judges will face No. 3 seed Colby-Sawyer College in the championship match.

Brandeis (21-17) was tested in its first two games against Keene State (25-14) after opening up big leads. In game one, after the Judges opened up a 9-3 lead early, the teams traded points until the Owls went on a mini run to close within 21-19. Junior opposite Ashley Powers (Waltham, Mass.) served four straight points to give the hosts a 25-19 lead, but KSC answered with a 9-2 run to take a 28-27 advantage on a kill by sophomore outside hitter Brittany O'Bryant (Merrimack, N.H.). The Judges answered with blocks by sophomore setter Violette Ruggiero (Paradise Valley, Ariz.) and rookie middle blocker Piera Carfagno (Los Angeles, Calif.) to reach game point at 29-28, but Keene called a timeout and scored the next point to knot the game. Brandeis rallied with kills from Carfagno and sophomore outside hitter Lorraine Wingenbach (Buffalo, N.Y.) to close out game one, 31-29.

In game two, three early service aces from Carfagno expanded a 6-3 lead to 9-3. The Owls called timeout after a kill by rookie middle blocker Bridget McAllister (Santa Clara, Calif.), but weren't able to shift the momentum just yet as Brandeis went on to a 17-7 lead. The Owls started their comeback at that point, taking advantage of Brandeis errors and an offensive burst by rookie Abby Rosen (Andover, Conn.), who had three KSC kills in a row to cut the lead to 24-19. Keene State continued the run to score six of the next seven points, getting within 25-24 on a kill by junior Kelly Yankowski (Turners Falls, Mass.). Carfagno held the Owls at bay with a kill on the next point, and sophomore outside hitter Becca Schwartz (Newcastle, N.H.) served out the next match with a service ace to give Brandeis the 30-26 win.

Game three was much smoother for the Judges, as the forced a Keene timeout with the score 5-2 and came out scoring eight of the next nine, including seven in a row served by McAllister. A 10-point run on Schwartz's serve, including three kills in five points for Powers, put the Judges ahead 27-10 en route to the 30-11 final.

BRANDEIS VOLLEYBALL DOWNS FRAMINGHAM STATE, 3-0, IN ECAC TOURNEY QUARTERFINALS
 
WALTHAM, Mass. - The Brandeis University volleyball team won, the top seed in the ECAC Division III women's volleyball team, defeated Framingham State College, 3-0, in the quarterfinals. Game scores were 30-15, 30-21, 30-14.

The Judges (20-17) got head coach Michelle Kim her first post-season victory with a fine .320 team hitting percentage. Sophomore Lorraine Wingenbach (Buffalo, N.Y.) led the way with 18 kills and just one error in 23 attempts, for a .739 percentage. Rookie middle blocker Bridget McAllister (Santa Clara, Calif.) also reached double figures with 10 kills, hitting for a .391 percentage. Defensively, junior opposite Ashley Powers (Waltham, Mass.) led the team with eight digs, tying for team-high honors with three service aces. Sophomore Violette Ruggiero (Paradise Valley, Ariz.) had 35 assists.

Framingham State (16-11) was led offensively by junior outside hitter Stephanie Pratt (Attleboro Falls, Mass.). who had nine kills. Rookie setter Alysa Mahan (Medway, Mass.) contributed 17 assists, while classmate Megan McDonald (Avon, Mass.) posted a match-high 19 digs.

Brandeis will host the ECAC tournament semifinals and finals on Saturday, Nov. 11. The Judges will take on the winner of the Keene State College-Rivier College semifinal, while third-seed Colby-Sawyer will face seventh-seeded Johnson & Wales University, upset winners of Plymouth State University tonight. The semifinals are at noon and the finals at 3 p.m.

Johnson & Wales upsets Plymouth State in ECAC Women's Volleyball Tournament

PLYMOUTH, N.H. - Seventh-seeded Johnson & Wales University won the first two games, but needed a huge rally in the fifth and deciding game Wednesday night to pull out a 3-2 upset victory over second-seeded Plymouth State University in the first round of the ECAC Division III New England Women's Volleyball Tournament at Foley Gymnasium.

The visiting Wildcats came out strong and won the first two games, 30-14 and 30-26.  The Panthers regrouped and captured the next two games, 30-24 and 30-21, to force the fifth game.

PSU jumped out to a 7-0 lead in the decisive game, only to see JWU battle back to tie it at 8-8.  From that point, the Wildcats took a one-point lead five times, but the Panthers answered with the tying point each time, knotting the match at 13-all.  JWU won the next two points to pull out the victory and hand PSU its first loss on home court this season after 11 straight wins.

Johnson & Wales improves to 24-14 overall and advances to the semifinals, which will be this Saturday at the site of the highest remaining seed following all of Wednesday's first-round matches.  Plymouth State, which was making its fifth straight post-season berth, completes its season at 19-14.

Junior Kelly Pfunder (Cincinnati, Ohio) led the Wildcats with 17 kills, while sophomore Alana Schloff (Chicago, Ill.) chipped in with 14 kills.  Junior setter Audra Vaccari (Winstead, Conn.) finished with 49 assists, and junior Ramona DiFilippo (Galloway, N.J.) and sophomore Kristen Gawrys (Chicago, Ill.) contributed 26 and 20 digs, respectively.

Freshman Eliza Badeau (Foster, R.I.) led the Panthers with 18 kills and only one hitting error for a .425 attack percentage, along with four blocks.  Sophomore Michaela Del Rosso (East Providence, R.I.) and junior Kirsten Willoughby (Plymouth, N.H.) contributed eight kills and four blocks apiece, while freshman Kathy Frankowski (Unionville, Conn.) and sophomore Regan Bowlen (Portsmouth, N.H.) chipped in with seven and six kills, respectively.  Freshman setter Brianna Kleckner (Terryville, Conn.) registered 45 assists.

Keene State Continues Season With 3-1 Victory Over Rivier

KEENE, N.H.  11/8/06 - Brittany O'Bryant (Merrimack, N.H.) had 15 kills to lead fourth seed Keene State College to a 3-1 (30-25, 30-24, 24-30, 30-24) victory over the visiting fifth seed Rivier College in a first-round ECAC Division III New England womens' volleyball tournament match played Wednesday night at Spaulding Gymnasium. 

Keene State (25-13) was making its first post-season tournament appearance in 24 years.  "I couldn't be happier for the players. This has been our goal from the beginning," said KSC coach Bob Weiner, "This is a big stride for Keene State volleyball."

Kelly Yankowski (Turners Falls, MA) chipped in nine kills for the Owls and Sarah Peterson (Danville, N.H.) had six kills and 18 digs.  Jordan Pokryfki (Wasilla, AK) set the Owls up with 35 assists. 

"We didn't think that we had a chance to make the tournament so we're really excited to continue our season," said Yankowski. 

The Raiders (24-8) were lead by Kori Chace (E. Providence, RI) with 14 kills and Colleen Van Cura (East Lyme, CT) added 38 assists. 

The Owls, who earlier set a program record for wins in a season, will play at top seed Brandeis University on Saturday (12 p.m.) in ECAC semifinal action