Courtesy Tufts Sports Information

Box Score

MEDFORD, Mass. - Williams College won its third consecutive NESCAC volleyball title on Sunday afternoon, defeating Tufts University in straight sets on the Jumbos’ home court. The Ephs have now won seven of the last nine conference championships, as the second-seed defeated top-seeded Tufts 25-19, 29-27, and 32-30 in three closely contested games.

Williams, who played a fairly mistake-free afternoon, opened up with a 15-10 lead thanks to aces from seniors Andrea Scioscia (Gibsonia, Pa.) and captain Chelsea Kubal (Atherton, Calif.). Junior Kate Anderson (Berlin, Mass.) added a big block and an early kill to pace the Ephs. Anderson blocked four balls and led the Ephs with 18 kills in the championship match. The Jumbos pulled to within two points at 18-16, but could not make up any more ground than that. Despite several good digs by Tufts junior Nancy Shrodes (Manhattan Beach, Calif.), the visitors went on to grabb an early lead.

The home team tried to seize control of the second set with the help of Caitlin Updike (Manhattan Beach, Calif.). The junior outside hitter contributed three kills and two consecutive aces as the Jumbos held a slim early advantage. Behind the blocking prowess of Nicole Ballon-Landa (La Jolla, Calif.), the Ephs powered back and tied the game at 17 and then again at 24. Ballon-Landa helped on three of her six blocks in the second game, none bigger than the one which gave the Ephs a 28-27 lead. The junior middle blocker also added 10 kills on the afternoon. Two great digs by senior Whitney Hitchcock (Penfield, NY) set up Ballon-Landa for a kill which sealed a 29-27 victory and put the Ephs up two sets to zero. Tufts senior Brogie Helgeson (Santa Cruz, Calif.) dug 11 balls in the match, and added four of her seven kills in the second set, but Kubal had answers to keep Williams in the game. Kubal notched 10 kills and also dug out 18 balls for Williams on the afternoon. Sophomore Aly McKinnon (Potola Valley, Calif.) added two aces in the second-set victory for the Ephs.

Tufts got off on the right foot in the third game, snatching a five-point advantage with early kills from junior Dawson Joyce-Mendive (Minden, Nnev.). She killed seven balls in the third set, en route to a 23-kill day. Updike added seven kills in the final game as well, slamming 17 of them in the match. The Jumbos got several great digs from first year Natalie Bruck (Iverness, IL), who came off the bench to dig 12 balls for Tufts, and the home-team was a point away from getting back into the match with a 24-21 lead. Late in the third set, however, Williams’ Anderson came alive, and five late kills for the junior allowed the Ephs to tie the game at 24. Joyce-Mendive and Anderson continued to battle for their teams, but Tufts was unable to finish off the game despite gaining the advantage point five times in a row. Williams finally got their necks in front and were able to capitalize on a Tufts serving error by closing the door on a 32-30 victory.

Williams junior Eleanor Levine (Atlanta, Ga.) and Ballon-Landa each added multiple kills in the third set. Williams’ efficiency ticked through junior setter Emily Avis (Palo Alto, Calif.), who logged 46 assists in the championship victory. Tufts setter Dena Feiger (Long Grove, Ill.) hit exactly the 50-assist plateau, and libero Audrey Kuan (Los Altos, Calif.) led the Jumbos with 27 digs in defeat.

The Ephs (21-8), nine-time NESCAC champs overall, will receive an automatic bid to next weekend’s NCAA regional, which Tufts will host. The Jumbos (28-4) are expected to receive an at-large bid to the tournament.

2009 NESCAC VOLLEYBALL CHAMPIONSHIP
Quarterfinals - Friday, November 6 at Tufts
at No. 1 Tufts 3, No. 8 Wesleyan 0
No. 2 Williams 3, vs. No. 7 Bowdoin 1
No. 3 Connecticut College 3, vs. No. 6 Trinity 0
No. 5 Amherst 3, vs. No. 4 Middlebury 2

Semifinals - Saturday, November 7 at Tufts
at No. 1 Tufts 3, No. 5 Amherst 2
No. 2 Williams 3, vs. No. 3 Connecticut College 0

Championship - Sunday, November 8 at Tufts
No. 2 Williams 3, at No. 1 Tufts 0

2009 NESCAC VOLLEYBALL CHAMPIONSHIP

Friday, November 6 - Sunday, November 8
at No. 1 Seed

Friday, November 6
5:00 p.m.
No. 8 at No. 1
No. 7 vs. No. 2

8:00 p.m.
No. 6 vs. No. 3
No. 5 vs. No. 4

Semifinals - Saturday, November 7
Winner No.1/No. 8 vs. Winner No. 4/No. 5 - 1:00 p.m.
Winner No. 2/No. 7 vs. Winner No. 3/No. 6 - 3:30 p.m.

Championship - Sunday, November 8
Semifinal Winners - 12:00 p.m.

Format
The top eight teams in the conference will qualify for the NESCAC Volleyball Championship beginning Friday, November 6 through Sunday, November 8.  The tournament champion will receive an automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Championship.  

Seeding
Seeding will be based on final conference standings of round robin play. The highest seeded team will host the Championship.

Pairings
Pairings will be announced Sunday, November 1.

Tie Breaking Procedures
Ties will be broken as follows:

Head-to-head result (if teams play each other more than once during the regular season, the game that appears on the league schedule will be the game that is counted).

If teams tied during the regular season, or there is a 3-way or more tie, the following tie breaking procedure will be used:

• Best match record among tying teams, against one another (head-to-head).
• Best set record among tying teams, against one another (head-to-head).
• Point differential of matches between tied teams (points scored-points scored against).
• Comparison of results of conference games played against top 4 teams (including all teams at the 4th spot).
• Comparison of results of conference games played against top 8 teams (including all teams at the 8th spot).
• Comparison of results of conference games played against conference teams in rank order.  Comparisons shall be made one team at a time starting with the highest ranked team.
• If the tie remains after comparing results against the highest ranked team, the results against the next team in rank order shall be used. This process is continued until a winner is determined.
• Coin flip (or similar random action involving all tied teams).

Note: In case of ties among three or more schools, the criteria above will be applied in order until a team is (or teams are) separated.  At that point, the process begins anew (returning to the first criteria) with the remaining teams.  The process is continued until the tie is eventually broken.  In cases where only a random action will break the tie of three or more teams, the random action will be applied to all teams involved in the tie.  For example, if three teams are tied and only a random action (pulling names out of a hat) will break the tie, each name will be pulled and seeded in order of being pulled.  Also, in the event that there are two (or more) groups of teams tied at different spots in the standings and the only criteria left that can be used to break those ties is a coin flip/random action, the coin flip/random action used to break the tie of one group (to put teams in rank order) will not affect the tie breaking procedures of the other group(s) of tied teams.