Volleyball Picks Up Two Victories At The NE-10/ECC Challenge On Saturday
WALTHAM, MA – The Merrimack women's volleyball team picked up two more victories on Saturday afternoon as they defeated Dowling and Mercy in the NE-10/ECC Challenge held at Bentley University. With the wins, Merrimack improves to 5-6 overall, matching their win total from the 2011 season just 11 games in.
The Warriors were the only team in the Challenge to end up going 3-0 as they defeated LIU Post, Dowling and Mercy. The victory over Dowling marked the first time in school history the Warriors defeated the Golden Lions in volleyball.
Senior setter Brianna Trabucco (Canton, Mass.) was named Tournament MVP for her outstanding play in all three matches and fellow senior Jenna Reilly (Northport, NY) was also named to the All-Tournament first-team.
Trabucco finished off her day with a total of 69 assists and eight digs over the two matches including a match-high 44 assists and five digs in the Warriors victory over Dowling. Reilly finished with 17 kills, 11 blocks and four digs over the two matches while Stephanie Sheehan (Smithtown, NY) led the way offensively as she finished with 19 kills and 12 digs. Shaunda Forcier (Gonic, NH) and Corrine Gosselin (Lawrence, Mass.) continued their solid play finishing with 16 and 11 kills respectively.
Game scores against Dowling: 25-23, 25-22 and 25-18.
After trailing 1-0 earlier on in set one, Merrimack dominated the opening set as they never trailed again, winning 25-23 after a huge kill by Forcier closed out the set.
The Warriors built a six point lead midway through the second set after Dowling took a timeout and they never looked back as they won the game by the score of 25-22. Forcier led the way for the Warriors in the second as she recorded five kills and Trabucco picked up 15 assists.
The third set was dominated by the Warriors as they defeated the Golden Lions in straight sets after a 25-18 victory in the final game. Aliya Winker (Arlington, Va.) played well in the decisive set as she racked up four kills and one dig to lead the Warriors to victory. Trabucco once again racked up 15 assists and freshman Madison Burke (San Jose, Calif.) finished with six digs in the final set and 18 for the match.
Game scores against Mercy: 25-18, 25-14 and 25-15.
Merrimack and Mercy went back and forth early on in the first set but the Warriors were able to pull away late on in the set to pick up the 25-18 victory.
Merrimack dominated the second and third sets on Saturday against Mercy to take home the 3-0 victory.
For the match, Merrimack was led by Sheehan who recorded a team-high seven kills and four digs. Gosselin also recorded a team-high as she had seven kills in the set as well. Katie Wilcox (Pembroke, Mass.) and Taciane Santos (Everett, Mass.) each saw action in two sets on Saturday, finishing with two digs and two kills respectively.
Merrimack (5-6 overall, 0-0 NE-10) will head to Southern New Hampshire next Saturday, September 29 for their first conference game of the season. First serve is set for 12 p.m.
