November 1, 2008
Eagles Fall In Semifinals, Lesley Captures Inaugural NECC Title

Inaugural NECC final four at Daniel Webster College
Championship: (4) Lesley 3, (2) Elms 2
Semifinal: (4) Lesley 3, (1) Daniel Webster 2
Semifinal: (2) Elms 3, (3) Becker 1

Nashua – Sophomore Meaghan Chadwick (Chelmsford, Mass.) knocked down 16 kills and added five digs, while junior Lindsey Marek (Killingworth, Conn.) followed with 10 kills five aces and three total blocks pacing fourth-seeded Lesley University past second-seeded Elms College, 3-1 to capture the inaugural New England Collegiate Conference women’s volleyball championship Saturday at Daniel Webster College’s Vagge Gymnasium.

Sophomore Kaitlyn Wechsler (Merrick, N.Y.) added seven kills and seven aces, and tournament most valuable player and senior Gianna Spaziante (Hawthorne, N.Y.) dished out a two-match total of 77 assists including 35 in the final as the Lynx (11-10) prevailed, 25-18, 17-25, 25-23, 25-20.

NECC Player of the Year senior Jeannette Nunez (Canovanas, P.R.) led the Blazers (10-14) with a match high 17 kills and added 10 digs, while freshman Stacey Croteau (Agawam, Mass.) notched eight kills and nine digs, freshman Jen Rego (Fall River, Mass.) added five kills and five digs, and junior Kim Phillips (Randolph, Mass.) dished out 29 assists, and chipped in five aces and 11 digs.


Lesley earned a spot in the final by storming back from two sets down to stun the top seeded Eagles in the first semifinal of the day.

Chadwick led four players in double figures with 15 kills and 14 digs and Spaziante dished out 44 assists as the Lynx dropped the opening sets 21-25 and 20-25, but rebounded to win the next three 25-18, 25-23, 15-11.

Marek added 13 kills and three solo blocks, senior Kelly Harrington (Toledo, Ohio) knocked down 12 digs and Wechsler added 12 kills for Lesley.

The Eagles, who saw their best ever season end at 14-8 overall, were paced by junior Kristina Rieger (Concord, N.H.) who notched 15 kills, four aces and 16 digs, and freshman Amanda Wilson (Merrimack, N.H.) who added 10 kills and eight digs.

Freshman Caitlyn DiPierro (Billerica, Mass.) added 29 assists, 11 digs and four kills while freshman Emily Travis (Somerset, Mass.) chipped in with four kills and five total blocks.


Elms worked its way to the championship game via a 3-1 victory over Becker College.

Nunez blistered at the net with an astounding 28 kills against five errors to hit .585 and added 13 digs as the Blazers prevailed 25-18, 25-17, 21-25, 25-21.

Croteau added 14 kills and four aces for Elms, while Phillips handed out 44 assists and kicked in five kills and seven digs.

Senior Rachel Pinak (Cheektowaga, N.Y.) led the Hawks (11-15) with 10 kills and two solo blocks while sophomore Diana Hoefner (El Paso, Tex.) added seven kills and seven digs, and sophomore Kelsie Laubenstein (Randolph, Mass.) dished out 21 assists and added three kills and five digs.

The All Tournament team included Spaziante, Marek and Harrington from Lesley, Croteau and Nunez from Elms, DiPierro from Daniel Webster, and Laubenstein from Becker.