Box Score 1 WILLIMANTIC, Conn. – The Eastern Connecticut State University Crabtree Classic this weekend did not produce a third straight tournament championship for the hosts, but one match in that two-day tournament might have served as a springboard to a first-round home match in the upcoming Little East Conference playoffs.
In a Saturday morning contest featuring the most important ramifications for Eastern at the 32nd Annual Crabtree Classic, Eastern (15-12, 3-3 LEC) emerged with a tight three-set sweep of Plymouth State University by a total of 12 points that could pave the way for the Warriors to host a tournament first-round match as the No. 4 seed a week from Tuesday at Francis E. Geissler Gymnasium.
Heading into the final week of the regular season, Eastern is alone in fourth place in the conference, a half-game ahead of Plymouth (13-16, 2-3 LEC) and Rhode Island College (11-14, 2-3 LEC), who share fifth place. The Warriors have won seven of eight – the only loss in that stretch to Elmira. Since losing four in a row in mid-September, Eastern has won ten of 13.
With the top six regular-season finishers gaining LEC playoff bids, Eastern can unofficially assure itself no worse than fourth place in the final standings with a victory when it visits UMass Dartmouth Tuesday at 7 p.m. in its conference finale. At fourth place, the Warriors would likely host in the first round either Plymouth or Rhode Island College, teams which have combined to beat Eastern only once in seven sets this season.
As the No. 5 seed last year, Eastern upset No. 5 seed Western Connecticut in five sets on the road before being eliminated in the semifinals at Plymouth State in straight sets.
Saturday's win over Plymouth snapped a run of four straight losses to the Panthers, who swept three of those matches and lost only one set in all.
Against Plymouth State, all-tournament selection Katie Wilson (Pittsburg, CA) attached at .457 with 18 kills, sophomores Allie Henry (Middletown) and Jess Patrizi (Beacon Falls) combined for 29 assists, and junior Erynn Miller (Stratford) and freshman Allie Luppi (Tewksbury, MA) teamed for 28 digs. Five different players also had a hand in the team's nine service aces, and behind Wilson, Luppi and Miller, Eastern commited only two reception errors on 58 serve receives.
Senior Casey Stoodley, one of the conference's top offensive players, accumulated 17 kills and junior Kaitlyn Tedeschi 12 for the Panthers, with freshman setter Kirsten Perrotta setting 35 kills and junior Cassie Pelton leading the way defensively with 16 digs.
After falling in four sets Friday night to tourney champion Elmira College (3-0 in the tournament), Eastern rebounded to sweep Plymouth Saturday morning and John Jay College later that day before closing out tournament play with a four-set victory over Salve Regina University.
Four tournament wins by Eastern would have made the 6-foot-2 inch Wilson the classic MVP. In 13 sets, the third-year transfer totaled 88.5 points (the sum of kills, service aces and blocks) – more than one-third of Eastern's point total. She averaged 5.4 kills with a .432 attack percentage and recorded 20 blocks, 45 digs and five service aces, and amassed a .971 reception percentage by commiting only two errors on 68 attempts.
Defensively, Miller averaged 5.5 digs per set in the tournament, Luppi 2.7 and Henry 2.6 digs per set, and 6-foot-2 inch freshman Brooke Curran (Chelmsford, MA) totaled 11 blocks. Senior Danielle Bourne (Branford) contributed 21 kills, five service aces and 1.6 digs. Junior Nicki Gasch (New Fairfield) followed Wilson with 25 kills.
