October 24, 2009
Top Seed Clinched As Eagles Sweep Becker And Lesley
- DWC Grabs At Least Share Of Second Straight Regular Season Title -

Nashua - The Daniel Webster women’s volleyball team will be returning to a familiar place in their second season as part of the New England Collegiate Conference – atop the league as the championship tournament’s top seed.

Backed by an offensive barrage from the trio of senior Kristina Rieger (Concord, N.H.) along with freshmen Samantha Hill (Hudson, N.H.) and Chelsey Crawford (Westfield, Mass.), the Eagles swept past both Lesley University and Becker College as part of a NECC tri-match Saturday afternoon at Mario Vagge Gymnasium.

The Eagles opened with a 25-11, 25-19, 25-16 win over Lesley and closed the day topping Becker, 25-4, 25-18, and 25-20, clinching at least a tie for the NECC regular season crown with one league game remaining.

By virtue of conference tiebreakers, the Eagles (13-5, 6-0 NECC) cannot finish lower than the top seed for the six-team tournament. Winners of three straight and eight of their last 10, DWC will host the tourney’s final four and championship for the second straight season on Saturday, November 7th.

Lesley (10-12, 3-2 NECC) earned a split on the afternoon with a 3-0 sweep of Becker (9-15, 2-3 NECC), winning 25-18, 25-15, 25-15.


Game One: Daniel Webster 3, Lesley 0

In the opener, Hill was perfect at the net, knocking down eight kills with no errors in 10 attempts, hitting .800 while Rieger added eight kills against one error, banged out seven service aces, added four kills and posted four total blocks as the Eagles avenged their loss in last year’s tournament semifinal to the Lynx and beat Lesley for the first time.

Crawford added six kills, three aces and three blocks, while Caitlyn DiPierro (Billerica, Mass.) dished out 20 assists, adding five aces and four digs.

The Eagles finished hitting .317 as a team and registered 16 aces to Lesley’s two.

Meaghan Chadwick (Chelmsford, Mass.) led the Lynx with four kills and eight digs, while Lindsey Marek (Killingworth, Conn.) chipped in with four kills and two blocks. Kaitlyn Miller (Leesport, Penn.) handed out 10 assists.


Game Two: Lesley 3, Becker 0

In the midday matchup, Marek paced the Lynx with a match high 10 kills and added two blocks, while Chadwick hit for seven kills and Kaitlyn Wechsler (Merrick, N.Y.) added six kills and four digs.

Megan Ortwein (Shanghai, China) and Kristin Weber (Beachwood, N.J.) chipped in with five kills each while Miller dished out 22 assists and six aces.

Julie Trcka (Shelton, Conn.) led Becker with five kills and four digs while Kelsea Laubenstein (Randolph, Mass.) added two kills and six digs.


Game Three: Daniel Webster 3, Becker 0

In the nightcap, the Eagles were devastating at the service line, knocking down a season high 31 service aces to Becker’s two.

Rieger paced the Eagles with eight kills, a career high 11 aces, and added six digs, while Crawford added eight kills, two aces and two digs.

Hill chipped in with six kills, two aces and three digs, and DiPierro handed out 15 assists and knocked down eight aces.

Emily Travis (Somerset, Mass.) chipped in with four kills.

Joanna Slomiak (Brockton, Mass.), Julie Lantry (Fitchburg, Mass.), Trcka and Nicole Morse (Alton, N.H.) notched two kills each for Becker. Slomiak added four digs.


The Eagles are off until Wednesday when they renew their annual intra-city rivalry hosting longtime nemesis Rivier College at 7:00 p.m. in a non-league matchup.