Salve Regina sweeps Emerson to advance to ECAC semis

NEWPORT, R.I. - Top-seed Salve Regina (26-4) rallied in each of the first two sets before leading wire-to-wire in the third for a 3-0 (25-22, 25-23, 25-18) sweep over visiting eighth-seed Emerson College (15-13) in first-round action of the ECAC Division III New England Women's Volleyball Championships.

The Lions were the first to 20 points in each of the first two sets. The final set opened with a service error by the visitors before the Seahawks reeled off three more points on Taylor Violet's (Tiverton, R.I.) service, including an ace. The junior setter had three service aces in the match and all of them hit hardwood untouched.

Jennifer Duggan (Merrimack, N.H.) led all players with 11 kills and also had a match-high 13 digs. Senior Clare Adams (New Concord, Ohio) raised her school-record kill total to 981 with eight tonight. Violet had an efficient attack percentage (.429) with her three kills and set a match-high 28 assists.

"Salve Regina was very deserving of the top seed," said third-year head coach Ben Read of the Lions. "We played well with the 10 (of 18) that we had tonight. First two sets we wanted to keep it an outside game, stay away from their middle. They (Seahawks) played very good defense, and passing improved in the third."

Emerson, which reached the NCAAs last year as the champion of the GNAC, moved over to the NEWMAC and failed to qualify for that conference's postseason. Tonight was Emerson's first match since it ended its regular-season 11 days ago. These two teams met in the opening weekend of the season back in August, as Salve Regina captured the Emerson Invitational with three wins, including a 3-1 triumph over the host school on August 31. Both teams had 20 or more points in each of the four sets.

"We had the look of revenge," said Salve Regina second-year head coach Lauren Parsons, whose team lost less than a week ago to Endicott College in its conference semifinal. "But the look didn't translate to consistent play until the third."

"Tonight was going to be a test for us to see how we would rebound from our last match. In the first two sets, being down in both sets we managed to battle back and win both. The third set was much better and we found our rhythm again."

Parsons' team returns to the ECAC semifinals for the second straight season.

In the first set, Emerson had its largest lead of three points on four different occasions, the last coming at 22-19 after a kill from freshman Amanda Linzmeyer (Huntington Beach, Calif.). The Seahawks won the final six points of the set with two kills from Duggan sandwiched around four attack errors from the Lions.

Senior outside hitter Alyssa Thorne (Pittsburgh, Pa.) opened the second set with a kill and gave the service to freshman teammate Jessica Hamilton (Altadena, Calif.). Two service aces from Hamilton and a kill from Julianna Augustine (Skaneateles, N.Y.) put the Lions up 4-0. Emerson had a seven-point lead (13-6) in the middle set, and led by six (16-10) before a service error and three straight attack errors relinquished the momentum.

Trailing 22-19, Salve Regina got control of the serve on a Lions' attack error and Violet set up Duggan and Katelyn Beauregard (Dartmouth, Mass.) for kills around her own service ace for a 23-22 advantage. At 23-all, Emily Lipinski (Hampden, Mass.) met an over at the middle and killed it for a 24-23 Seahawk lead. Duggan finished the set with a kill from the outside.

After Salve Regina's 4-0 start in the final set, Emerson never got closer than three points. The Seahawks had their largest lead of seven points (22-15) following a service ace from junior Dianna Tauro (Melrose, Mass.), and traded sideouts the remainder of the match for the final margin.

Thorne led the Lions with 10 kills while Jamie Morgan (Maple Glen, Pa.) had a team-high 12 digs and Giuli Frendak (Warrington, Pa.) had 26 assists in three sets.

Salve Regina, unable to host semifinal and final rounds due to the school's dance team performance this weekend at the Rodgers Recreation Center, will meet the other top four seeds on Saturday in Springfield, Mass. Second-seed Western New England, which defeated its conference foe University of New England in straight sets, will host fellow CCC member and third-seed Endicott on Saturday while the Seahawks will play fourth-seed Smith College. The two semifinal winners will meet on the Golden Bears' home court on Saturday afternoon.

The Seahawks now have a 9-1 record this season against the 2013 ECAC field, including a 3-2 victory over the Pioneers (October 3) in Northampton, Mass. Follow the ECAC semifinal and final results on this site: http://www.ecacsports.com/sports/fall/wvball/Championships/DivisionIII/2013/WVB_CShipCentral