Nov. 24, 2009

Junior outside-hitter Sarah Coscia (Pittsfield, MA) was named to the Division II All-East Region Team by the American Volleyball Coaches Association, AVCA, on Tuesday night. Coscia's teammate, senior Elsa LeGrand (Highlands Ranch, CO), narrowly missed joining her--LeGrand was named one of six honorable mentions.

Coscia played a key role the River Hawks' resurgence in 2009. In addition to the recognition by the AVCA, she was also named to the Northeast-10 All-Conference First-Team earlier in the month. Coscia finished the season ranked third in the conference in hitting percentage (.325), kills (3.50) and points (4.12). During the course of the season, Coscia was named the NE-10 Player of the Week on three occasions.

While barely missing the All-East Region Team, LeGrand made her way onto the NE-10 All-Conference Third-Team this season. She was named All-Conference in all four years of her career, making the Third-Team in 2006, 2007 and 2009 while playing her way onto the Second-Team in 2008. The Colorado native finished her career with 413 total blocks--only one shy of the all-time UMass Lowell record.

Behind the drive of NE-10 Coach of the Year Karen McNulty, UMass Lowell finished 2009 with a 22-10 overall record en route to winning the NE-10 Championship. The conference title granted the River Hawks their first berth to the NCAA Tournament since 2005.