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Date: November 12, 2005
Contact: Bill Sodoma

 

Colby Volleyball Wins New England Regional

WATERVILLE, Maine --- The Colby College volleyball team is headed to Virginia and the NCAA Division III Championships quarterfinal round.

The Mules moved to 37-3 overall after beating Tufts University 3-0 (30-26, 30-23, 31-29) in the NCAA New England Regional final at Colby College's Wadsworth Gymnasium on Saturday night before a crowd of 1,000 fans. The Mules went 15-0 at home this season, including three victories over Tufts. Colby is one of eight teams left in the NCAA tourney and will play Mid-Atlantic Regional winner Juniata in a quarterfinal match this Thursday at the Salem Civic Center in Salem, Virginia. Juniata is the defending national champion and is currently ranked second in the country. However, the Mules did take the first game against Juniata in a 3-1 loss earlier this season at the McDaniel (Md.) Tournament.

Cait Cleaver (Kennett Square, Pa.) once again led the Mules with 21 kills and 20 defensive digs. Megan Devlin (Branford, Conn.) added 12 kills and 15 digs, Kaitlin Adams (Athol, Mass.) also had 12 kills, and Jenny Lawrence (Lafayette, Calif.) dished 47 assists, had 11 digs and four aces. Meredith Lawler (Lynnfield, Mass.) came off the bench with seven kills and two blocks, while Kendall Kirby (Piedmont, Calif.) had 21 digs.

Tufts (29-7) received 11 kills and seven digs from Dana Fleisher (Aspen, Colo.). Courtney Evans (Bellaire, Texas) added 10 kills, Katie Wysham (Spokane, Wash.) had eight kills and three blocks, and Kaitlin O'Reilly (Manhattan Beach, Calif.) had 40 assists.

Tufts led for much of the opening game before the Mules finally tied the contest at 22-22. With Colby leading 25-23, the Mules scored the next four points to take control of the game.

After a somewhat easy win in the second game, Colby led 24-18 at one point in the final game only to see Tufts battle back. The Jumbos came all the way back to tie the game at 29-29. Cleaver had a block to score the 30th point and ripped her 21st kill of the night on a long point to clinch the match.

NCAA Division III Tournament New England Regional at Colby College

Thursday's matches:

No. 4 MIT 3, No. 5 Bridgewater State 0 (30-19, 30-21, 30-27)

No. 6 Colby-Sawyer 3, No. 3 Smith 1 (30-21, 28-30, 30-26, 30-27)

No. 2 Tufts 3, No. 7 Emmanuel 0 (30-28, 30-28, 30-21)

No. 1 Colby 3, No. 8 Mount Ida 0 (30-15, 30-17, 30-9)

Friday's regional semifinal matches:

No. 2 Tufts 3, No. 6 Colby-Sawyer 0 (30-18, 30-21, 30-17)

No. 1 Colby 3, No. 4 MIT 1 (30-22, 31-29, 24-30, 30-26)

Saturday's regional final:

No. 1 Colby 3, No. 2 Tufts 0 (30-26, 30-23, 31-29)