Volleyball Visits Top-Ranked New Haven Tuesday for Northeast-10 Quarterfinals
NEW HAVEN, CT – Winners of seven straight, the Merrimack volleyball team, seeded eighth in the Northeast-10 Tournament, will take on two-time Northeast-10 Champion New Haven Tuesday at 7 p.m. in the NE-10 Quarters.
The winner will advance to the Northeast-10 Semifinals on Friday and play the winner of #4 American International vs. #5 Stonehill at the site of the highest remaining seed in the tournament. The semifinals and finals are all played at one site.
After a sluggish start to the season, the Warriors have won eight of the last nine, with the only blemish a 3-2 loss to New Haven on October 16.
New Haven, last year's conference and regional champion, enters the postseason as the top team in the region with a 23-2 record, 15-0 in the Northeast-10. But perhaps the most challenging conference match for the Chargers was that close 3-2 victory over the Warriors on Homecoming Weekend in North Andover. It was New Haven's only five-set match all season, and they pulled out the fifth set with two late points for the 15-13 victory.
The Warriors are led by seniors Molly Cindric (Westlake Village, CA), Elyse Lorenz (Frankfurt, IL) and Alyssa Pickert (Tinley Park, IL), each of whom have left their names throughout the Merrimack record book.
Cindric, the program's all-time leader in kills for a season and a career and only All-American in program history, won the last three Northeast-10 Player of the Week honors and has eclipsed 1550 career kills and 1250 career digs for her storied career. Lorenz, who surpassed 800 assists for the season and 4150 for her career, in Saturday's 3-0 win over Assumption, leads the conference in aces per set. Pickert, last year's Northeast-10 Libero of the Year, became the first player to record 2,000 digs in program history
Merrimack's seven game winning streak is its longest since it won all nine October matches in 2008.
Ticket prices for the game are $5 for adults, $3 for children and seniors, and $1 for students with a valid school ID from a Northeast-10 member school.
Quarterfinals – November 9
Match 1: #8 Merrimack at #1 New Haven
Match 2: #7 UMass Lowell at #2 Pace
Match 3: #6 Bentley at #3 Adelphi
Match 4: #5 Stonehill at #4 American International
Semifinals - November 12
Match 5: Match 1 winner vs. Match 4 winner
Match 6: Match 2 winner vs. Match 3 winner
Championship Match – November 13
Match 7: Match 5 winner vs. Match 6 winner
