CAMBRIDGE, Mass. - Lesley University hosted Mitchell College in the New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) Quarterfinals on Wednesday night and earned a 3-1 (22-25, 25-23, 25-15, 25-16) victory to advance onto the championship tournament to be held Saturday at Daniel Webster College.  The Lynx improved their record to 9-10 (5-2 NECC) while the Mariners ended their 2008 season with a 8-14 (3-4 NECC) mark.

The visiting Mariners took control of the match by winning the first set 25-22.  Mitchell held a lead as high as six points as Lesley struggled with errors.  The Lynx were able to cut the lead down to one point at 21-20 but the Mariners were able to regain composure to take the set as the Lynx committed three errors in the next four points.  In the set, Mitchell had two kills a piece from Stephanie Davis (Ledyard, Conn.) and Sarah Senetcen (Terryville, Conn.) and defensively were led by Heather-Renae Powers (Niantic, Conn.) and Kimberly Campbell (Springfield, Mass.) who combined for powerful block.

Momentum shifted in Lesley's favor in the second set as the Lynx were able to tie up the match 1-1 with a tight 25-23 set victory.  Mitchell led late in the set, but Lesley took six of eight points down the stretch.  Kelly Harrington (Toledo, Ohio) had four of her eight match kills in the second set for the Lynx.

In the third set, Lesley maintain control of the match as they took an early lead that they would not relinquish.  For the Lynx, Meaghan Chadwick (Chelmsford, Mass.) was effective with five kills and Lindsey Marek (Killingworth, Conn.) chipped in with three of her own.

Mitchell put up a fight in the match's final set, getting the score as close as one point at 11-10, but Lesley outscore Mitchell 14-6 to finish off the set and win the match. 

For the match, Mitchell was led by Davis who tallied nine kills at a 0.222 hit percentage.  Davis also was one of two Mariners to total double-digit digs as her and teammate Dana Keele (Cascade, Mont.) had 14 and 11, respectively.  Setter Jennifer Bordonaro (Winsted, Conn.) dished out 23 assists in the loss. 

The Lynx were paced by Chadwick and Marek who had 15 and 11 kills each.  Harrington and Kaitlyn Wechsler (Merrick, N.Y.) were also effective offensively as they each finished eight kills.  Gianna Spaziante (Hawthorne, N.Y.) distributed the ball out to her teammates to the tune of 35 set assists and had a team-high 18 digs.

Lesley now advances onto the NECC Championship Tournament to be held on the campus of Daniel Webster College.  The Lynx will face off with #1 seed Daniel Webster starting at 11:00 am.  The winner of that match will face the winner of the other semifinal at 3:00 pm the same day.

To learn more about the Lesley University women's volleyball team, please visit their website.

Contact:          Rob Palardy
                        Sports Information Director
                        Lesley University
                        617.349.8627 (office)
                        617.349.8640 (fax)
                        rpalardy@lesley.edu