Seahawks open season with win over Framingham State, loss to Plymouth

BOSTON, Mass. - FDU-Florham, Emerson, and Plymouth State all posted 2-0 records in day one of competition at the 2009 Emerson/Wentworth Women's Volleyball Invitational, which is being played on the campuses of Wentworth Institute of Technology and Emerson College.

FDU-Florham opened the tournament with a 3-1 win over tournament co-host Wentworth. The Devils took the first two sets, 25-15, and 25-7, respectively, before the Leopards claimed a win in the third set with a 25-23 win. FDU-Florham closed out the match with a 25-14 win in the fourth set. The Devils were paced by sophomore Kristen Lopardo (Cranston, R.I.) who had eight kills and four blocks, while junior Kerry Kuperman (Scottsdale, Ariz.) had 17 assists and three aces. Sophomore Marta Matea (East Brunwick, N.J.) had 26 digs. The Leopards got 14 kills and 11 digs from sophomore Julie Bruton (Montgomery, Texas), while senior Courtney Zink (Falmouth, Mass.) had 22 assists.

The Devils (3-1) claimed their second victory of the day with a 3-0 (25-20, 25-15, 25-12) win over Simmons. Sophomore Kate Mullane (San Antonio, Texas) had nine kills and four aces while Kuperman had 29 assists and Matera recorded 13 digs. For the Sharks sophomore Katie Fionte (Andover, Mass.) had four kills and seven digs while senior Amanda Weaver (Eaton, Ohio) had 14 assists.

Simmons (1-2) took home its first victory of the day with a 3-1 win over Wentworth (0-2). The Sharks won the first set, 25-23, before the Leopards tied the match with a 25-23 win in the second set. However, Simmons would win the following two sets, 25-19, and 25-20, respectively. Sophomore Meaghan Flynn (Laguna Beach, Calif.) had 18 kills, while Fionte chipped in with eight. Freshman Rachel Dufault (Westport, Mass.) served six aces and Weaver had 32 assists. Wentworth was led by Bruton, who had her second consecutive double-double (15 kills, 11 digs), with Zink dishing out 22 assists and defensively had 10 digs, and junior Jen Giudice (Central Valley, N.Y.) recording 12 digs. Bruton hit .619 in the loss.

Salve Regina took a 3-1 victory from Framingham State with the Seahawks falling in the first set, 23-25, before rallying to win the next three sets by scores of 25-17, 29-27, and 25-14. Seniors Deanna Salter (Westwood, Mass.) and Natalie Rubenoff (New Hartford, Conn.) and sophomore Julianne Barry (Randolph, Mass.) each had eight kills for Salve Regina, while Rubenoff also had six blocks. Junior Ashley Trudeau (Rockland, Mass.) paced the Rams with 13 kills, while junior Jessi Goode (Marstons Mills, Mass.) had 20 digs, and freshman Camryn Maguire (Natick, Mass.) had 23 assists.

Plymouth State swept the Rams (1-2), 3-0 (25-8, 25-13, 25-16) behind a 10-kill, two-ace, three-block performance from senior Eliza Badeau (Foster, R.I.). Senior Brianna Kleckner (Terryville, Conn.) dished out 30 assists, while classmate Kathy Frankowski (Farmington, Conn.) had eight aces. Framingham State was led by Goode and Trudeau, who had 13 and 10 digs, respectively.

The Panthers remained unblemished on the day with a 3-0 (25-16, 25-16, 25-13) win over Salve Regina. Badeau had 14 kills and a hitting percentage of .722, while Kleckner posted her second consecutive 30-assist match and junior Kelsey Petty (Salem, N.H.) had 14 digs for Plymouth State (2-0). Salve Regina (1-1) received six kills apiece from Rubenoff and Barry.

Co-host Emerson opened play with a 3-2 win over Ramapo as the Lions took the first two sets, 25-23, and 25-18, before watching the Roadrunners even the match with a 26-24 win in the third set and a 25-23 win to force a deciding set. Emerson prevailed in the fifth set, 15-8. The Lions were paced by junior Lauren Zaniboni (San Diego, Calif.) who had 13 kills, 20 digs, and five blocks, while freshman Kelsey Scanlon (Sonoma, Calif.) had 12 kills. Sophomore Katie Bailey (Calabassas, Calif.) and classmate Jessica Drumright (San Francisco, Calif.) shared the setting duties and recorded 26 and 22 assists, respectively. Ramapo received nine kills apiece from sophomore Kaitlin Smith (Westwood, N.J.) and sophomore Kayla Anders (Harrington Park, N.J.). Sophomore Tiffany Fischer (Woodcliff Lake, N.J.) had 31 assists.

The Roadrunners (1-1) earned their first win of the season with a five-set win over Hamilton. The two teams split the first two sets, with the Continentals taking the opener, 25-19, and Ramapo winning the second, 25-16. The third set belonged to Hamilton with a 25-19 win before the Roadrunners took the fourth set by an identical score and used a 15-6 triumph in the deciding set to take the match. Anders had 14 kills and four blocks, while sophomore Maura Burke (Wyckoff, N.J.) had nine kills and hit .533. Fischer dished out 42 assists.

Emerson (1-1) needed just three sets to defeat Hamilton (0-2) as Zaniboni had 14 kills and junior Sara Rutan (Santa Clarita, Calif.) had 11 digs and six aces in the 25-15, 25-11, 25-14 win.

Courtesy of Wentworth sports information