Nov. 15, 2009

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Video - Winning Point: UMass Lowell defeats Adelphi

The sixth-seeded UMass Lowell River Hawk volleyball team (22-9) will travel to Oakdale, N.Y. for its opening round match of the NCAA Tournament against third-seeded Bridgeport (31-6) on Thursday at noon. The River Hawks received an automatic bid following their dramatic surge to the Northeast-10 Championship this past weekend.

UMass Lowell is among five NE-10 schools selected for the eight-team East Regional.

This marks the River Hawks' first trip to the NCAA Tournament since 2005. In the NE-10 Tournament hosted by UMass Lowell this weekend, the River Hawks defeated Pace University in Friday's quarterfinals by a score of 3-1. They followed with a 3-1 victory over Southern Connecticut in the semifinals early Saturday afternoon--setting up a showdown with Adelphi with the NE-10 crown on the line.

UMass Lowell fought a five set match that came down to the wire, with the River Hawks prevailing 15-12 in the final set to win their first NE-10 Championship in program history. Tournament MVP Nichole Rondeau (Dracut, MA) tallied 33 assists and nine digs as she quarterbacked the UMass Lowell offense.

In addition to the conference title, the River Hawks received numerous honors at the NE-10 banquet held Saturday morning. Head coach Karen McNulty was named the conference Coach of the Year, previously winning the award in 2002 as well. Junior Sarah Coscia (Pittsfield, MA) and senior Elsa LeGrand (Highlands Ranch, CO) were named to the First- and Third-Team All-Conference, respectively, for their terrific 2009 campaigns.

In the only previous meeting between UMass Lowell and Bridgeport this season, the Purple Knights triumphed by a score of 3-1 on Sept. 4.