LEC CHAMPIONSHIP CENTRAL

PLYMOUTH, N.H. – The Eastern Connecticut State University women's volleyball team has been seeded fifth in the 2015 Little East Conference playoffs and will visit No. 4 Western Connecticut State University in a first-round match Tuesday evening at 7 p.m. at the O'Neill Center on the Western campus.

With an opportunity to nail down the No. 4 seed and to host a first-round match, Eastern (12-16) extended host Plymouth State (21-6) to five sets Saturday at Foley Gymnasium before losing in five for only the second time this year against four victories.

In the second match of the day in a non-conference match which ended the regular season, Eastern lost in four to Colby-Sawyer College (10-23).

Against Plymouth, junior Adrianna Mihalek (Woodbury) had 14 kills, senior Allie Luppi (Tewksbury, MA) 12 digs and three service aces and freshman Leah Sopneski (Deep River) and sophomore Amanda Tourjee (Waterford) combined for 25 assists, but Plymouth managed to edge the Warriors in five sets for the second straight time. Eastern falls to 2-9 on its opponent's court this year.  Dani Tabor of Plymouth led all players with 17 kills and a .412 attack percentage, Brenna Peruch had 24 digs and Kirsten Perrotta 38 assists.

Against Colby-Sawyer, Mihalek and junior Kay Mullen (Fairhaven, MA) combined for 21 kills and Luppi had 18 digs, Mihalek adding 13. Tourjee and Sopneski  combined for 33 assists. Kelsey Sullivan of Colby-Sawyer led all players with 16 kills, Laura Smolinski and Gabrielle Ratte combining for 38 assists and Lexi Strong had 24 digs.

Eastern and Western will be meeting in the LEC playoffs for the sixth time in the past nine years, the Warriors winning twice. This year's playoff matchup is a re-match of last year's championship match, won in four sets by fourth-seeded Western over No. 3 Eastern at Clark Athletic Center on the UMass Boston campus. In the regular-season matchup this year at Danbury Western swept Eastern, 25-21, 25-22, 25-11. Western has won the last two playoff meetings since Eastern earned a five-set victory in the first round of the 2011 playoffs at the O'Neill Center.

Plymouth State U. 3, Eastern Conn. 2

Eastern Conn. (12-15, 3-4 LEC)          16   25    11    26    9

Plymouth State (21-6, 4-3 LEC           25   20     25   24  15

Colby-Sawyer College 3, Eastern Conn. 1

Eastern Conn.  (12-16)                        20   19    25    18

Colby-Sawyer (10-23)                         25   25    15    25