NEW LONDON – Freshman Alaetra Long (Lincoln, NE) had 12 kills and senior Michelle Valliere (Lebanon) ten digs to lead the Eastern Connecticut State University women's volleyball team to a three-set sweep of Mitchell College in the season-opener for both programs Friday night at the Yarnall Athletic Center. Set scores were 25-19, 25-14, 25-8.

In her collegiate debut, Long led both teams in kills and attacked at .214 and also added six digs. Freshman Abby Stern (Manchester), the second of two freshmen in the starting lineup, contributed seven kills and eight digs. Junior Leah Sopneski (Deep River) had 15 assists and senior Amanda Tourjee (Waterford) added ten assists and three service aces. Senior Carly Balskus (Hebron) had six kills and topped the team with a .250 attack percentage.

Mitchell attacked at just -.014, with Courtney Cappabianca digging up a game-high 13 balls and Marissa Sweeney leading the Mariners with seven kills. Eastern did not commit a reception error.

Eastern opens its home schedule Saturday, hosting Lesley College at noon and Dean College at 4 p.m.