Championship Preview: No. 4 Seahawks host No. 5 Nor'easters

NOVEMBER 5 | 7 p.m. RODGERS RECREATION CENTER • NEWPORT, R.I.
SALVE REGINA SEAHAWKS (13-14, 5-3 CCC)	U. OF NEW ENGLAND NOR'EASTERS (15-6, 4-4 CCC)
SERIES Seahawks lead, 12-7 LIVE STATS http://www.cccathletics.com/ LIVE VIDEO Click here DIRECTIONS Click here
INTERACTIVE BRACKET | PRINTABLE BRACKET

NEWPORT, R.I. - Salve Regina University women's volleyball earned the No. 4 seed in the Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) Championships and will host the No. 5 seed University of New England.

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LAST TIME OUT
WESTON, Mass. - The Salve Regina University women's volleyball team split its matches on Saturday at a tri-match between Anna Maria College and host Regis College.

MORE READING: Seahawks split matches at Regis to close out regular season

SEAHAWKS NOTES FROM THE NEST

• Salve Regina junior Katie Linekin (Ridgefield, Conn.) became the eighth player in program history to surpass 1,000 career digs with 33 this past weekend.
• Three Seahawks earned All-CCC recognition; Andee Bender (third team), Annie Donahue (first team), and Nicole Karabaich (second team).
  • Donahue has been a first team All-CCC player every season of her career.
• The Seahawks have made the playoffs in each of head coach Lauren Parsons' eight seasons.

NOR'EASTER NEWS

• UNE had two players make the All-CCC team; Sydney Christiansen (second team) and Katie Flynn (third team).
• Flynn leads the Nor'easters in kills (218).
• Christiansen paces the Nor'easters in assists (656) and ranks fifth in the CCC.

INSIDE THE SERIES
Salve Regina leads 12-7 all-time versus UNE and has won 11 in a row in the series. The most recent victory for the Seahawks came on Salve Regina's Senior Day, October 26. The Seahawks led 2-0 in the match, but had to withstand a furious comeback from the Nor'easters to win in five sets. UNE's last victory in the series was on October 17, 2009, a 3-1 final in Biddeford, Maine. Salve Regina has won the only other postseason meeting between the teams, 3-1 in Newport on October 31, 2017.

WHAT'S NEXT?
Winner advances to the Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) semifinal on Thursday, November 7, hosted by higher seed.

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. – Endicott won its second straight Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) Regular-Season Championship with a perfect 8-0 CCC (21-7 overall) record. As the Regular-Season Champions, the Gulls will be the No. 1 seed in the upcoming CCC Women's Volleyball Championship Tournament.

As the No. 1 seed, the Gulls receive a bye in the first round of the tournament. They were spectacular in conference play this year, dropping only one set in eight contests.

Roger Williams, the only conference team to take a set from Endicott this year, will be the No. 2 seed in the tournament after going 6-2 in CCC play (13-13 overall). Wentworth also went 6-2 in conference play (21-7 overall) and will be the No. 3 seed in the bracket.

Since the Hawks and Leopards were tied in the conference standings with identical 6-2 records, the league's tiebreaking procedure was required to determine seeding. The Hawks earned the higher seed based on their five-set head-to-head win against the Leopards during the regular season.

Salve Regina went 5-3 in league play (13-14 overall) this year and will be the No. 4 seed, joining Roger Williams and Wentworth as the hosts of the three quarterfinal matches. Those matches are scheduled for Tuesday, Nov. 5.

The Hawks will host No. 7 seed Western New England (2-6 CCC, 12-17 overall), while No. 6 seed Gordon (4-4 CCC, 14-12 overall) visits the Leopards. The Seahawks match up with No. 5 seed University of New England (4-4 CCC, 15-6 overall) in the third quarterfinal. All three matches are scheduled for 7 p.m.

With UNE and Gordon both compiling 4-4 conference records, the tiebreakers were once again needed to determine seeding. The Nor'easters picked up a five-set victory over the Fighting Scots during the regular season, giving them the fifth seed.

Following the quarterfinals, the three remaining teams will advance to the CCC Semifinals where the top-seeded Gulls await. The semifinal round is scheduled for Thursday, Nov. 7. Endicott will play the winner of the Salve-UNE match, while the other two quarterfinal winners meet in the other semifinal. Game times for those matches will be announced following the first round.

The two semifinal winners will advance to compete in the 2019 CCC Women's VolleyballChampionship match on Saturday, Nov. 9. The winner of the title match will be named the 2019 CCC Women's Volleyball Tournament Champion and earn the conference's automatic qualifier into the 2019 NCAA Division III Women's Volleyball Championship.

2019 CCC WOMEN'S VOLLEYBALL TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE 

All games hosted by the higher seed

Quarterfinals – Tuesday, Nov. 5

#7 Western New England at #2 Roger Williams, 7 p.m.
#6 Gordon at #3 Wentworth, 7 p.m.
#5 University of New England at #4 Salve Regina, 7 p.m.

Semifinals – Wednesday, Nov. 7

#4/5 Winner at #1 Endicott, TBD
#3/6 Winner vs. #2/7 Winner, TBD

Finals – Saturday, Nov. 9

Semifinal Winners, TBD