2005 Little East Conference Volleyball Awards
Lisa Horvay and Tiffany Phoenix Named To Second Team

Offensive Player of the Year — Becky Ciulla, Senior, Middle Hitter, Plymouth State University
Defensive Player of the Year — Marianna Capomolla, Junior, Libero, Eastern Connecticut State University
Rookie of the Year — Hilary Teichert, Freshman, Middle Hitter, UMass Dartmouth
Coach of the Year — Jolie Ward, Eastern Connecticut State University

PROVIDENCE, RI — Plymouth State senior middle hitter Becky Ciulla (Chelmsford, MA) receives Little East Conference Offensive Player of the Year honors, Eastern Connecticut junior libero Marianna Capomolla (Stamford, CT) is recognized as the Defensive Player of the Year, while UMass Dartmouth freshman middle hitter Hilary Teichert (Pocasset, MA) earned Rookie of the Year accolades and Head Coach Jolie Ward of the Eastern Connecticut is cited as the league’s Coach of the Year to highlight the league's annual list of award winners.
     Ciulla led the league, in kills, with 499 on the season, and ranked second in hitting percentage at .278. She also contributed 154 blocks which was good for second in the league while her 491 digs ranked fifth. Ciulla help lead the Panthers to a share of their second consecutive LEC Regular Season Championship.
     Capomolla anchored the Eastern Connecticut defense as she had a LEC-high 636 digs this fall. She also contributed 27 kills, 40 assists and a team-high 73 service aces to help lead the Warriors to their fifth LEC Tournament title and a birth in the NCAA Tournament. In the LEC Tournament, Capomolla collected 32 digs, amassed a .969 reception percentage on 65 attempts and was named the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player.
     This fall, Teichert compiled 350 kills and a .252 hitting percentage, leading all LEC rookies. She also led the Corsairs in those categories, as well as blocks, with 106. This award marks the first time a UMass Dartmouth player has received one of the conferences Player of the Year awards.
     Led by Ward, Eastern Connecticut hit their stride just at the right time as they swept through the LEC Tournament and earned the program’s 14th appearance in the NCAA Tournament. The Warriors are currently on a six-match winning streak and have won 11 of their last 13 contests. Ward becomes the second Eastern Connecticut coach to receive this award as Tom York was the first recipient in 1998.
     Along with Ciulla and Capomolla, the All-Conference First Team features Plymouth State junior setter Amanda Bagwell (Riverside, RI), Eastern Connecticut junior right side hitter Chrissie Siranko (Danbury, CT), Rhode Island College middle hitter Erin Miga (Cranston, RI), Plymouth State senior outside hitter Kelly Landry (Nashua, NH) and Rhode Island College senior outside hitter Kristy Nix (East Setauket, NY).
     Earning Second Team All-Conference honors along with Teichert are Keene State sophomore setter Kelly Yankowski (Turners Falls, MA), Western Connecticut junior right side hitter Lisa Horvay (Winsted, CT), Keene State senior middle hitter Shelly Ellis (Hampton, NH), Western Connecticut sophomore outside hitter Tiffany Phoenix (Cresskill, NJ), Eastern Connecticut junior outside hitter Jessica Keogh (Monroe, CT) and Rhode Island College senior libero Stephanie Wojciechowski (North Kingstown, RI).

Little East Conference - 2005 Volleyball Awards

First Team
Name 			Position 		Class 	Institution 
Amanda Bagwell 		Setter 		Senior 	Plymouth State University
Chrissie Siranko 		Right Side 		Senior 	Eastern Connecticut State University
Becky Ciulla 		Middle Hitter 	Senior 	Plymouth State University
Erin Miga 			Middle Hitter 	Junior 	Rhode Island College
Kelly Landry 		Outside Hitter 	Senior 	Plymouth State University
Kristy Nix 			Outside Hitter 	Senior 	Rhode Island College
Marianna Capomolla 		Libero 		Junior 	Eastern Connecticut State University

Second Team
Name 			Position 		Class 	Institution 
Kelly Yankowski 		Setter 		Soph.	 Keene State College
Lisa Horvay 		Right Side 		Senior 	Western Connecticut State University
Hilary Teichert 		Middle Hitter 	Freshman 	UMass Dartmouth
Shelly Ellis 			Middle Hitter 	Senior 	Keene State College
Tiffany Phoenix 		Outside Hitter 	Soph.	Western Connecticut State University
Jessica Keogh 		Outside Hitter 	Junior 	Eastern Connecticut State University
Stephanie Wojciechowski 	Libero 		Senior 	Rhode Island College 

                                            1   2   3     F
Western Conn. (9-14)             22 28 23   0
Keene State (16-11)               30 30 30   3

KEENE, N.H. 11/01/05 – Third seeded Keene State College swept a three game match (3-0) against sixth-seed Western Connecticut State University in a Little East Conference Tournament quarterfinal women’s volleyball match at Spaulding Gym on Tuesday night.
     Keene State (15-11) advances to the semifinals where they will play second seed Plymouth State University at Eastern Conn. on Friday (4 p.m.). Fourth seed Rhode Island College, a 3-0 winner over fifth seed UMass-Dartmouth in Tuesday’s other quarterfinal match, will play top seed Eastern Conn. in the second semifinal contest.
     Keene State, which advances to the LEC semifinals for the third time, had a balance attack against WCSU, which won five straight LEC titles between 1999-2003. Senior middle blocker Shelly Ellis (Hampton, N.H.) led the Owls with 12 kills, 17 digs, two blocks, and two service aces.
     Sophomore hitter Kelly Yankowski (Turners Falls, Mass.) finished with 13 kills, eight digs, and two blocks, freshman hitter Brittany O’Bryant (Merrimack, N.H.) had 11 kills and 13 digs, and junior hitter Genna Florkowski added nine kills, 17 digs, and three service aces.
     Sophomore hitter Tiffany Phoenix (Cresskill, N.J.) had 19 kills, five digs, and one block and senior setter Stefanie Weise (New Fairfield, Conn.) finished with 27 assists, two service aces, and two kills to lead WCSU (9-14).
      Prior to this season’s two win over WCSU, KSC had lost eight straight matches against the Colonials.

Danbury, Conn.- Western Connecticut State University defeated Westfield State College, 3-0 at The O’Neill Center Saturday afternoon.
     The Colonials prevailed, 30-22, 30-24 and 30-20.
     Sophomore outside hitter Tiffany Phoenix (Creeskill, NJ) led the Colonials with 12 kills on 23 attempts, 12 digs, two services aces and two block assists.
     Lisa Horvay (Winsted, Conn.) had a fine performance with five kills and seven digs.
     Stefanie Weiss (New Fairfield, CT) led the offense with 25 set assists, three digs and four kills on the day.
     WestConn, which improves to 10-13 on the season, will play at Keene State College this Wednesday in the first round of the Little East Conference Tournament.
     Westfield State falls to 12-10 on the season.

WestConn (10-13)             30 30 30
Westfield State (12-10)     22 24 20

Other WestConn Highlights
Kathryn Kupchik – 2 kills, 2 block assists
Krystal Wilson - 18 digs, 2 service aces
Marybeth Plaskus - 2 kills, 8 digs, 1 ace
Cecelia Laskauskas - 5 kills, 2 block assists

Danbury, Conn.- Western Connecticut State University defeated Kings Point, 3-0 at The O’Neill Center Thursday night.
    The Colonials prevailed, 30-26, 33-31 and 30-26
    Sophomore outside hitter Tiffany Phoenix (Creeskill, NJ) led the Colonials with 10 kills on 34 attempts, 10 digs, three services aces and two block assists.
    Lisa Horvay (Winsted, Conn.) had a fine performance with 10 kills and four digs.
    Stefanie Weiss (New Fairfield, CT) patrolled the offense with 23 set assists, six digs and eight kills on the night.
WestConn improves to 8-12 on the season.
    Kings Point, which is coached by former WestConn softball star and Hall of Fame inductee Heather Stone, falls to 13-8.

WestConn (8-12)               30    33    30
Kings Point (13-8)             26    31   26

WestConn Highlights
Tiffany Phoenix – 10 kills, 10 digs, 2 block assists, 3 service aces
Kathryn Kupchik – 3 kills, 1 block solo
Lisa Horvay – 10 kills, 4 digs
Stefanie Weiss - 23 sets, 8 kills, 6 digs

NOTES: Wesleyan avenged a 3-1 loss at Western Conn. a year ago by sweeping the visitors for the eighth win in its last nine matches this season. Western, behind the hitting of sophomore Tiffany Phoenix (17 kills, 8 digs), came back in the first two games after trailing 29-24 in the first and 14-5 in the second. With senior setter Stefanie Weise (27 assists, 5 kills, 4 digs) serving, Western scored five straight points to tie the first game at 29-29. The teams tradedpoints to 31-31 before Wesleyan got a kill by sophomore Caroline Rober on a short set and an ace from sophomore setter Becca Rodger (38 assists) to win the game. Western rallied in the second game to tie the score at 15-15 but seven straight Wesleyan points on the serve of freshman Anna Williams made it 22-15 and Western got no
closer than four points the rest of the game. In the third game, Wesleyan broke away from a 20-20 deadlock with 10 of the final 13 points to win the match. Freshman Lisa Drennan led Wesleyan with 14 kills while sophomore Jettie Word added 11. Drennan leads Wesleyan with 294 kills in 68 games (4.3/game) this season. Phoenix paces Western with 198 in 56 games (3.5/game).

Cortland Invitational
Friday, Oct. 7

Cortland def. Albertus Magnus, 30-6, 30-7, 30-5
Ithaca def. Western Conn. St., 30-15, 30-23, 30-24

Saturday's Schedule:
11 a.m. - Cortland vs. Western Conn. St.; Ithaca vs. Albertus Magnus
2 p.m. - Cortland vs. Ithaca; Western Conn. St. vs. Albertus Magnus

WILLIMANTIC, Conn. – Sophomore setter Jen Braswell (WILTON) came off the bench to collect 27 assists over the final three games in sparking the Eastern Connecticut State University women’s volleyball team to a five-game Little East Conference victory over Western Connecticut State University Tuesday night at Francis E. Geissler Gymasium.

Eastern (12-7, 4-1 little east) snaps an 11-match losing streak at the hands of Western (6-8, 2-3), which had a streak of five straight conference championships snapped last fall by Plymouth State University. The Warriors had won the first 25 matches in this series which dates back to 1979, but had gone six years without defeating the Colonials before this match.

Eastern won the match by scores of 30-23, 27-30, 24-30, 30-25, 15-13.

In Game 4, Eastern stayed alive by scoring the first five points and never trailed but needed to score five straight points after Western had pulled to within two, 18-16. With the score tied 10-10 in Game 5, sophomore Emma Sousa (COVENTRY) and junior Jessica Keogh (MONROE) had consecutive kills and a Western attack error pushed the lead to 13-10. Keogh and Sousa then teamed for a block moments later to make it 14-11, and after Western pulled to within a point, Sousa closed out the win with her 12th kill of the match.

With Eastern trailing two-games-to-one, Braswell came off the bench to hand out seven assists in the Game 3 loss, then started the final two games and contributed ten assists in each victory for a career-high total of 27.

Keogh matched Sousa with 12 kills and also had 19 digs and handled 36 serve receptions without an error. Sophomore Angela Loomis (MERIDEN) led Eastern with 22 digs and had 25 receptions with just two errors and had two service aces while junior Marianna Capomolla (STAMFORD) had 13 digs and four service aces and had 39 reception attempts with just two errors. The Warriors did not commit a reception error until their 29th attempt of the match.

Seniors Nicole Tassone (EAST PATCHOGUE, NY) and Chrissie Siranko (DANBURY) had 11 and ten kills each, with Tassone adding two service aces and six blocks. Sophomore Priscilla Dougherty (ISLAND PARK, NY) followed Braswell with 11 assists, sophomore Courtney Fromm (WINGDALE, NY) adding nine.

The Warriors commited a season-high 19 ball-handling errors but commited only four reception errors and had 15 service aces.

Senior Lisa Horvay (Winsted, CT) led Western with nine kills and a .348 attack percentage while sophomore Krystal Wilson (Meriden, CT) had 36 digs and senior Stefanie Weise (New Fairfield, CT) ten kills, 30 set assists and 15 digs. Junior Cecelia Laskauskas (Danbury, CT) added seven kills and four blocks.

Eastern Conn. 3, Western Conn. 2

Western Conn. (6-8, 2-3 little east) 23 30 30 25 13
Eastern Conn. (12-7, 4-1 little east) 30 27 24 30 15

COAST GUARD 3, WESTERN CONN. 0
Western Conn. 11 16 17
Coast Guard 30 30 30
TEAM RECORDS: WC 6-7; CGA 12-3.

NEW LONDON, CONN.--Nicole Gurr had 13 kills while Stephanie Kimmel had eight kills and six aces as Coast Guard, ranked fourth in New England, beat Western Connecticut 30-11, 30-16, 30-17 to complete a sweep of a tri-match.
     Tiffany Phoenix led Western Connecticut with 12 digs and eight kills while Krystal Wilson had 19 digs.
In the first match of the day, Mary Arvidson had a game-high 16 kills while Gurr added 14 kills as Coast Guard (12-3) beat Eastern Nazarene 30-20, 30-18, 30-12.
    Corinne McCormack added 10 kills for the Bears while Megan Durbin had eight digs and four aces in the win
     Courtney Kosmerl had nine kills to lead Eastern Nazarene (6-9) while Rachel Sorensen had 17 assists.
     The second match saw Western Connecticut (6-7) beat Eastern Nazarene 30-27, 30-28, 30-24 as Stefanie Weise had 30 assists and 20 digs.
      Kosmerl led Eastern Nazarene with 14 kills.

Danbury, Conn.- Western Connecticut State University prevailed over Rhode Island College, 3-2, 30-22, 22-30, 31-29, 27-30, 21-19 in a marathon thriller at The O’Neill Center Wednesday night.
     The Colonials improve to 5-6 overall and even their record a 2-2 in the Little East Conference.
     The Anchorwomen are now 9-9 overall and 2-2 in league play.
     Sophomore outside hitter Tiffany Phoenix (Creeskill, NJ) led the Colonials offense with 15 kills, 25 defensive digs and three blocks.
     Stefanie Weise (New Fairfield, Conn.) had an outstanding match, recording 31 sets, eight kills, 27 digs and one service ace.
     Krystal Wilson (Meriden, Conn.) continued her outstanding defensive play with 38 digs, two aces to go along with three set assists.
     WestConn travels to the SUNY Cortland Tournament this weekend in upstate New York

WestConn Highlights
Tiffany Phoenix – 15 kills, 25 digs, 3 block solos
Stefanie Weise – 31 sets, 27 digs, 1 ace, 8 kills
Marybeth Plaskus - 8 kills, 26 digs
Krystal Wilson - 38 digs, 2 aces, 3 sets

Rhode Island College
No statistics were made available

Danbury, Conn.- The Western Connecticut State University women's volleyball team improved to 3-5 on the season with a 3-0 victory over St. Joseph College, 30-21, 30-15, 30-26 at The O’Neill Center Tuesday night.

WestConn Highlights
Tiffany Phoenix – 5 kills, 7 digs
Stefanie Weise – 20 sets, 4 digs, 2 block assists
Kathryn Kupchik – 1 block solos, 2 block assists, 3 kills
Marybeth Plaskus - 6 kills, 5 digs
Krystal Wilson - 18 digs, 12 sets, 2 kills, 4 service aces
Cecelia Laskauskas - 7 kills, 1 block solo, 2 block assists

Sat., Sept. 17 Plymouth State def.. Western Connecticut, 3-0 (30-18, 30-16, 31-29)
Keene State def. Southern Maine, 3-0 (30-10, 30-22, 30-18)

Stat Leaders: PSU Becky Ciulla 16 kills
Amanda Bagwell 29 assists
WCSU Tiffany Phoenix 9 kills
Lisa Horvay 10 kills
KSC Brittany O'Bryant 9 kills
USM Shannon Stoll 5 kills

 Keene State def. Western Connecticut, 3-1 (30-21, 32-30, 26-30, 30-25)

Stat Leaders: PSU Kelly Landry 8 kills
Becky Ciulla 8 kills
WCSU N/A
KSC N/A
USM N/A

Season Records: Plymouth State (9-3, 3-0)
Keene State (5-3, 2-1)
Southern Maine (2-5, 0-3)
Western Connecticut (2-5, 1-2)

The Brewers will travel to Union College this weekend for the Union Invitational and will face Hartwick, Oswego, Union and a fourth opponent to be determined by match results

The first game with WCSU was tightly contested, with nine total ties. The Brewers pulled ahead on the strength of a 13-5 run to close out the game. In the second game, the Brewers never trailed, and had five rallies of at least three straight points scored. This trend continued in the final game, with the Brewers scoring five of the games first six points and seven of its final eleven.

Senior tri-captain Lauren Gass (Imlay City, MI/Imlay City) helped lead the Vassar to the sweep, she recorded 21 assists, 7 kills, and 4 service aces. Fellow captain libero Amanda Hsiung (Takoma Park, MD/Montgomery) led the Brewers with 17 digs. Sophomore Alia Al-Khatib (Port Charlotte, FL/Choate Rosemary) was also a key contributor, totaling 13 assists and 7 kills. Junior Kim Goldstein (Bayside, NY/Benjamin N. Cardozo) had 9 kills for the Brewers, who as a team had 42, distributed evenly throughout.

For the Colonials, senior setter Stefanie Weise (New Fairfield, CT/ New Fairfield) tallied 15 assists and 11 digs. Sophomore libero Krystal Wilson (Meriden, CT/ Platt) led all players with 21 digs.

Danbury, Conn.- Rutgers-Newark spoiled the season opener for new Western Connecticut State University head coach Pablo Baez as it defeated the Colonials, 3-0, 30-28, 30-23, 30-20 at The O’Neill Center Tuesday night.
     The Colonials opened the match with a 6-0 run but the Scarlet Raiders stayed within striking distance before eventually taking their first lead at 27-26.
     Allison Becker (Ft. Mitchell, KY) led Rutgers-Newark with 14 kills on the night.
     Robin Pearce (Shadow Hills, CA) had 23 digs and two service aces.
     Sophomore outside hitter Tiffany Phoenix (Creeskill, NJ) led the Colonials with 11 kills, 16 defensive digs and four blocks.
     Stefanie Weise (New Fairfield, Conn.) had an outstanding match, recording 26 sets, 19 digs and three service aces.
     For the Scarlet Raiders, now 3-1, Sheena Eldred (Fairfax, VA) led the offense with 36 sets.
WestConn drops to 0-1 and will host John Jay College and SUNY New Paltz this Saturday beginning at 11 a.m.

WestConn Highlights
Tiffany Phoenix – 11 kills, 16 digs, 2 block solos and 2 block assists
Stefanie Weise – 26 sets, 19 digs, 3 aces
Kathryn Kupchik – 1 block solos, 3 block assists
Marybeth Plaskus - 8 kills, 17 digs, 2 service aces

Rutgers-Newark Highlights
Allison Becker - 14 kills
Sheena Eldred - 36 sets
Robin Pearce - 23 digs and 2 service aces
Melissa Strom - 7 kills
Julie Pape - 10 kills

Jaymie Rosario Playing Professionally in Puerto Rico

     Former Western Connecticut State University volleyball standout Jaymie Rosario is currently playing for Las-Playeras de Isabela in the Superior League, which is a part of the Professional Volleyball Federation of Puerto Rico.  The Superior League is the highest-rated volleyball league in the country and she has been playing since this winter. 
     The former setter for the Colonials plays her position in Puerto Rico as well.  Rosario currently owns every setting record as well as aces in a season and a game along with digs in a season in the school’s history.  
     Rosario was a three-time Little East Conference Player of the Year as well as a First-Team NJCAA All-American at Rockland Community College.  She was a three-time All-County, All-Section and All-League selection at Clarkstown South High School. 
     She holds a Health Science degree from WestConn and will be playing in her last game of the season Saturday before coming back home in the April.

 

2004 Little East Conference Volleyball Awards
Offensive Player of the Year — Kelly Landry, Plymouth State University
Defensive Player of the Year — Shannon Desmond, Western Connecticut State University
Rookie of the Year — Ashley Freeman, University of Southern Maine
Coach of the Year — Mike Holden, University of Massachusetts Dartmouth

PROVIDENCE, RI — Plymouth State University junior outside hitter Kelly Landry (Nashua, NH) received Little East Conference Offensive Player of the Year honors, Western Connecticut State University sophomore libero Shannon Desmond (Quincy, MA) was recognized as the Defensive Player of the Year, while University of Southern Maine freshman middle blocker Ashley Freeman (Gorham, ME) earned Rookie of the Year accolades and Head Coach Mike Holden of the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth was cited as the league’s Coach of the Year to highlight the league's annual list of award winners.
     Landry led Plymouth State, and the league, in kills, with 553 on the season, and ranked third in hitting percentage at .295. She also contributed 70 service aces, 334 digs and 38 blocks. Landry help lead the Panthers to their first-ever LEC Tournament Championship. For her efforts in tournament play, she was named the Tournament’s Most Outstanding Player.
     Desmond anchored a Western Connecticut defense as she had a team-high 523 digs, which was good for second in the conference. Along with her dig numbers, Desmond contributed nine kills, 17 assists and 30 service aces. Desmond helped lead the Colonials to a Co-Regular Season Championship and a spot in the semi-finals of the LEC Tournament, where they fell to eventual champion Plymouth State.
     A two-time recipient of the league’s rookie of the Week Award, Freeman, led Southern Maine in kills, 279, and blocks, 79. Her well-rounded play this season also produced three assists, 43 service aces and 240 digs.
Along with Landry and Desmond, the All-Conference First Team features Plymouth State University junior setter Amanda Bagwell (Riverside, RI), Eastern Connecticut State University junior right side hitter Chrissie Siranko (Danbury, CT), Plymouth State University junior middle hitter Becky Ciulla (Chelmsford, MA), Rhode Island College middle hitter Erin Miga (Cranston, RI) and Western Connecticut State University freshman outside hitter Tiffany Phoenix (Cresskill, NJ).
     Earning Second Team All-Conference honors are Western Connecticut State University sophomore setter Kassie Moore (Pocasset, MA), University of Massachusetts Dartmouth senior right side hitter Nicole Verronneau (Fairhaven, MA), Western Connecticut State University junior right side hitter Lisa Horvay (Winsted, CT), Eastern Connecticut State University freshman middle hitter Emma Sousa (Coventry, RI), Eastern Connecticut State University junior middle hitter Nicole Tassone (East Patchogue, NY), Western Connecticut State University senior middle hitter Tricia Lawley (Hooksett, NH), Eastern Connecticut State University senior outside hitters Amanda Jassen (Winsted, CT) and Jessica Leifert (Winsted, CT), Rhode Island College sophomore outside hitter Kari Geisler (Deerfield, NH), Rhode Island College junior outside hitter Kristy Nix (East Setauket, NY) and Eastern Connecticut State University sophomore libero Marianna Capomolla (Stamford, CT).

Little East Conference - 2004 Volleyball Awards

First Team
Name 		Position 		Class 	Institution 
Amanda Bagwell 	Setter 		Junior 	Plymouth State University
Chrissie Siranko 	Right Side 		Junior 	Eastern Connecticut State University
Becky Ciulla 		Middle Hitter 	Junior 	Plymouth State University
Erin Miga 		Middle Hitter 	Sophomore 	Rhode Island College
Kelly Landry 		Outside Hitter 	Junior 	Plymouth State University
Tiffany Phoenix 	Outside Hitter 	Freshman 	Western Connecticut State University
Shannon Desmond 	Libero 		Sophomore 	Western Connecticut State University 

Second Team
Name 		Position 		Class 	Institution 
Kassie Moore 	Setter 		Sophomore 	Western Connecticut State University
Nicole Verronneau 	Right Side 		Senior 	University of Massachusetts Dartmouth
Lisa Horvay 		Right Side 		Junior 	Western Connecticut State University
Emma Sousa 	Middle Hitter 	Freshman 	Eastern Connecticut State University
Nicole Tassone 	Middle Hitter 	Junior 	Eastern Connecticut State University
Tricia Lawler 	Middle Hitter 	Senior 	Western Connecticut State University
Amanda Jassen 	Outside Hitter 	Senior 	Eastern Connecticut State University
Jessica Leifert 	Outside Hitter 	Senior 	Eastern Connecticut State University
Kari Geisler 		Outside Hitter 	Sophomore 	Rhode Island College
Kristy Nix 		Outside Hitter 	Junior 	Rhode Island College
Marianna Capomolla 	Libero 		Sophomore 	Eastern Connecticut State University

Semi-Final Match #1 (5:30 p.m.)
			1   2   3   4   5             Final Score
#3 Plymouth State (27-11) 		20 30 24 30 15 	3
#2 Western Connecticut (12-18) 	30 27 30 19 13 	2 

PLYMOUTH STATE ADVANCES TO CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH
Providence, RI—Third-seeded Plymouth State University advances to the Championships Match of the 2004 Little East Conference Women’s Volleyball Tournament with a, 3-2, win over second-seeded Western Connecticut State University.

The Panthers were down 1-0 and then 2-1, but stormed back to win games four and five to knock off the five-time LEC Champion Colonials and earn a berth in the finals. Western Connecticut took game one, 30-20, and the Panthers answered back with a, 30-27, win of their own in game two. The Colonials won game three, 30-24, before PSU forced a decisive game five with a, 30-19, win in the fourth game. The two teams traded leads in the final game before the Panthers emerged with a, 15-13, win.

Head Coach Moira Long’s team will play the winner of the fourth-seeded Eastern Connecticut vs. top-seeded Rhode Island College semi-final match (currently in progress) tomorrow afternoon at 1 p.m. in The Murray Center at RIC.

PSU was led offensively by juniors Becky Ciulla (Chelmsford, MA) and Kelly Landry (Nashua, NH) who had 15 kills each. Freshman Kirsten Willoughby (Plymouth, NH) chipped in with ten kills. Landry added five service aces, 13 digs and a block. Ciulla had two aces, 13 digs and two blocks in the win. Junior Amanda Bagwell (Riverside, RI) had 43 assists, three aces and 14 digs.

The Colonials were led by freshman Tiffany Phoenix (Cresskill, NJ) and senior Tricia Lawler (Hooksett, NY) who posted 13 kills each. Sophomore Kassie Moore (Pocasset, MA) had 36 assists and 17 digs.

The 2004 WestConn women's volleyball team

RICHARD MYERS RESIGNS AS
WOMEN'S VOLLEYBALL COACH

After 17 seasons as Head Women’s Volleyball Coach at Western Connecticut State University, Richard Myers has resigned from his coaching duties but will remain in the university’s Admission’s Office, announced WestConn Director of Athletics and Recreation Ed Farrington.
     “Rich Myers came to Western, sight unseen, from Petersburgh, Alaska during the summer of 1988. I needed someone to develop a program and he wanted the opportunity to coach at the college level,” said Farrington. “His commitment to the university and the student-athletes that have played for him over these many seasons has been exceptional and he will be missed.”
     Under Myers’ leadership, the Colonials qualified for the NCAA Tournament for five straight years from 1999 to 2003 while garnering five Little East Conference Post-Season Championships during the same five-year span.  WestConn advanced to the second round of the NCAAs three times, 1999, 2000 and 2003. Myers finished his tenure as the all-time winningest volleyball coach with 297 victories. Myers and the Colonials have won a least a piece of the LEC regular-season title in each of the past six campaigns and the title outright from 1999 to 2003.
     “My run as head coach has been full of rewarding experiences,” noted Myers. “It has been a long and wonderful trip from my first day when remnants of the program’s history consisted of one piece of paper with seven names on it, to today, a program which has established a legacy of commitment and success at a very high level on the court and in the classroom.”
     Beginning with the 1988 season, the Colonials averaged nearly 16 wins a season and had an impressive overall record of 297-270 overall and dominating 46-3 regular-season Little East Conference record with Myers at the helm. From 1998 to 2003, WestConn won 20 or more matches including a program-best 25-7 mark in 2003.
     “Our run of conference victories, LEC Championships and NCAA appearances are something of which we can all be proud of,” added Myers.
     This past season, Rhode Island College ended WestConn’s 49-match Little East Conference (regular and post season) win streak.

Myers’ coaching career at Western Connecticut State University: 
Year      Overall      Little East Post Season Appearance
1988 	10-24 
1989 	15-15 
1990 	18-21 
1991 	11-21 
1992 	10-21 
1993 	24-15 
1994 	17-16 
1995 	16-16 
1996 	15-16 
1997 	19-14 
1998 	20-16 	6-1 	ECAC Tournament First Year in Little East Conference 
1999 	21-10 	7-0 	NCAA Tournament - 2nd round LEC Champs 
2000 	22-13 	7-0 	NCAA Tournament – 2nd round LEC Champs 
2001 	22-12 	7-0 	NCAA Tournament – 1st Round LEC Champs 
2002 	20-15 	7-0 	NCAA Tournament – 1st Round LEC Champs 
2003 	25-7 	7-0 	NCAA Tournament – 2nd Round LEC Champs 
2004 	12-18 	5-2 	LEC Regular-Season Co-Champs 

    	297-270    	46-3