NEW LONDON, CONN.--Senior Corinne McCormack had 17 kills, eight
digs and three aces leading defending New England Women's and Men's
Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) tournament champion and fourth-seeded
Coast Guard to 3-0 (30-16, 30-14, 30-25) win over fifth-seeded
Smith in a NEWMAC Tournament quarterfinal match. This was a matchup
between the last two schools to win the NEWMAC tournament as Smith
won the 2005 championship.
Coast
Guard jumped out to an 8-0 lead in the first game, Smith scored six
of the next eight to pull to within 10-6 before the Bears scored
five straight for a 15-6 lead and cruised to the 30-16 win.
In game
two, the Bears led 18-11 before scoring 12 of the next 15 points to
win the game 30-14.
Smith
didn't go quietly in the third game as it was tied 15-15 before the
Bears scored five straight to take control enroute to the 30-25
win.
Junior
Nicole Gurr had 10 kills and 11 digs, sophomore Courtney Wolf added
eight kills and four blocks while senior Anne Staley had 38 assists
and three aces for Coast Guard, which advances to the semifinals
for the seventh straight season.
Sophomore
Bethany Weiss led Smith (15-14) with seven kills along with two
aces while senior Catherine Shafer had six kills and 12 digs.
Coast
Guard (21-5), which has advanced to the championship game in each
of the last three seasons, will take on top-seed and host MIT in
the semifinals on Friday night at 5 p.m.
Second-seeded Wellesley will take on third-seeded Springfield in
the second semifinal on Friday night at 7:30 p.m. at MIT.
NEWMAC VOLLEYBALL TOURNAMENT
QUARTERFINAL
COAST GUARD 3, SMITH 0
Smith
16 14
25
Coast
Guard
30 30
30
TEAM RECORDS: S 15-14; C 21-5.