Women's Volleyball 10/5/2013 12:00:00 AM

Warriors Clip UMass Dartmouth for Second Little East Victory

WILLIMANTIC, Conn. – The Eastern Connecticut State University women's volleyball team forced a decisive fifth set with a five-point win in the fourth, but an early lead dissolved as the Warriors lost to Framingham State University and finished second in the 33^rd Annual Crabtree Classic at Francis E. Geissler Gymnasium.

At right: Nicki Gasch was Eastern's all-tournament choice

Coming off an NCAA appearance last year, Framingham (15-4) survived its fourth-set loss to Eastern (9-9) to defeat the Warriors for the first time ever in this six-match series.

In the decisive set – played to 15 points – Eastern scored four of the first five points but the Rams broke an 8-8 tie, scoring two points to take the lead for good. Kills by freshmen Adrianna Mihalek (Woodbury) and Kay Mullen (Fairhaven, MA) twice pulled Eastern to within a point, but Framingham closed out the victory by totaling the final three points. Annie DeLoid and Alycia Rackliffe teamed for a block for one of those final points, and an ace by tournament MVP Danielle Girard sealed the win.

While Eastern was denied its third Crabtree title in the last four years, it was able to secure its second Little East Conference victory against one loss with a sweep of Massachusetts Dartmouth in its opening tournament match. Eastern followed with a four-set victory over the University of New England.

Senior Nicki Gasch (New Fairfield) – who represented Eastern on the all-tournament team – led the Warriors to their 39^th win over UMass (4-13, 0-3 LEC) in this 42-match series. Gasch had ten of the team's 33 kills to go along with three blocks, while sophomore Allie Luppi (Tewksbury, MA) dug up 21 balls and senior captain Erynn Miller (Stratford) 15, and juniors Jess Patrizi (Beacons Falls) and Allie Henry (Middletown) combined for 27 assists.

Gasch topped all Eastern players in the tournament with 39 kills and attacked at .248, with Mihalek adding 30 kills, Mullen 22 kills and a .457 attack percentage, and sophomore Bry Kelly (Dunbarton, NH) 16 kills.

Henry finished the tournament with 58 assists and Patrizi 46. Patrizi also added ten of the team's 29 tournament service aces. Kelly, Mullen and Gasch combined for 40 blocks, while Luppi collected 60 digs and Miller 31. Miller also received 38 opposing serves with only two errors for a .947 perentage.

Eastern returns to conference action Tuesday at Western Connecticut State University at 6 p.m.

Crabtree Classic

Volleyball Invitational

at Willimantic, Conn.

Framingham State U. 3, Eastern Conn. 2

(25-19, 17-25, 25-13, 20-25, 15-11)

Framingham State U. 3, U. of New England 2

(25-20, 17-25, 25-19, 21-25, 15-7)

Framingham State U. 3, UMass Dartmouth 0

(25-17, 25-14, 25-20)

Eastern Conn. 3, UMass Dartmouth 0

(25-10, 25-21, 27-25)