Women’s Volleyball Upset by Southern Vermont, 3-1, in NECC Championship

QUINCY, Mass.- The Eastern Nazarene College women's volleyball team suffered a 3-1 loss to Southern Vermont in the New England Collegiate Conference Tournament championship match Sunday afternoon at the Lahue Physical Education Center.

The top-seeded Lions finish the season 20-7 overall with the result. The third-seeded Mountaineers improve to 21-6 and earn the league's automatic berth to the NCAA Tournament.

Ruth Aguilar (Tegucigalpa, Honduras) and Courtney McCarthy (Merrimack, N.H.) were both selected to the NECC All-Tournament Team.

Aguilar posted a triple-double with 21 digs, 20 assists, and 12 kills on the day. McCarthy finished with 16 kills and 19 digs.

Rebecca Thorne (Quincy, Mass.) chipped in with eight kills while Samantha Caldwell (Quincy, Mass.) recorded 14 assists and 12 digs. Jessica Caldwell (Quincy, Mass.) collected 19 digs while Jenna Meacham (Millington, Mich.) tallied 11 digs and Rebecca Ashman (Havre de Grace, Md.) added 10 digs.

The visitors seized a 1-0 lead after capturing the opening set 25-21.

Southern Vermont stretched its advantage to 2-0 with a narrow 25-23 decision in the second frame.

Eastern Nazarene clawed back into the match with a 25-14 win in the third to cut the deficit to 2-1. The home side rattled off the final eight points of the set to get on the board.

In the fourth set, the Lions fell behind 19-10 before battling back with nine unanswered points to grab a 23-22 edge. The Mountaineers chalked up back-to-back points to take a 24-23 lead. Eastern Nazarene fought off match-point three times before Southern Vermont scored the final two points to close out the match 28-26 and clinch its fourth NECC title.

Southern Vermont was led by NECC Tournament MVP Liv Sowles with 28 kills along with all-tournament team honorees Sarah Baty with 44 assists and 12 digs and Heidy Benitez with 38 digs.