October 31, 2009
With Eye On Final Four, Eagles Take Regular Season Crown

The Eagles gathered to celebrate their regular season crown following Saturday's victory over Bay Path (Justin Masse photo).

Nashua - No sharing this time.

A year removed from earning a share of the New England Collegiate Conference regular season championship, the Daniel Webster College volleyball team kept the crown all for themselves, posting a 3-1 victory in their regular season finale over Bay Path College Saturday afternoon at the Mario Vagge Gymnasium.

Senior captain Kristina Rieger (Concord, N.H.) made her final regular season outing a memorable one, registering a match high 10 kills, seven digs four service aces and picked up three solo blocks as the Eagles completed a perfect, 7-0 mark in NECC play (14-6 overall) winning 25-10, 22-25, 25-7, 25-16, and tied their all time program season wins record set last season.

Daniel Webster is the top seed for the NECC tourney and will host the one-day final four on Saturday, November 7th. The Eagles will play in the opening semifinal at 11:00 a.m. against the winner of fourth-seeded Elms College and sixth-seeded Mitchell College, who meet in a NECC quarterfinal matchup Wednesday night.

The second semifinal takes place at 1:00 p.m. with the championship slated for 3:00 p.m.

Rookie Chelsey Crawford (Westfield, Mass.) added nine kills against just two errors to hit .500 on the day and added four digs, while fellow freshman Samantha Hill (Hudson, N.H.) added eight kills, two aces and four digs.

Caitlyn DePierro (Billerica, Mass.) dished out 15 assists, adding a match high six aces and chipped in with three digs.

Nadine Harkless (Westfield, Mass.) led the Wildcats (1-19, 1-7 NECC) with five kills and seven digs, while Dan Turner (Bellows Falls, Vt.) added three kills and Davi Chuong (Easthampton, Mass.) pulled in a match high 12 digs and added three aces.

The Eagles led wire-to-wire in the opening set jumping out an 8-2 lead keyed by two DePierro aces and led 20-9 when Rieger rattled off four straight points from the service line on the way to the 25-10 win.

Bay Path rallied in the second breaking a 16-16 tie with two Chuong aces and held off a late Eagle charge for the 25-22 win.

DWC took control with a dominating set three win, building leads of 7-2 and 18-3 that saw Crawford register eight straight points at the line that included two aces and two kills from Brier Temple (Concord, N.H.). Emily Travis (Somerset, Mass.) would close it out with a kill and service ace for the 25-7 win.

In the clincher, the Eagles again raced out to a big lead holding 10-2 and 13-5 advantages and pulled away behind four points at the line from SaraMaura Dwyer (Wayne, N.J.) and DePierro would close the match with a kill for the 25-16 final.

The NECC regular season crown is the second straight for the program after the Eagles shared the title last season with Lesley University.