Oct 19, 2007

Wards wins 100th match at Eastern Connecticut

WILLIMANTIC, Conn. -- The Eastern Connecticut State University women’s volleyball team scored five of the final six points in the decisive fifth game to upend Montclair State University and present head coach Jolie Ward with her 100th victory at Eastern Friday night at Francis E. Geissler Gymnasium.

Winless since Sept. 29, Eastern (7-23) stopped a program-worst ten-match slide with its second win in as many years against Montclair State (18-14). Eastern won the match by scores of 19-30, 30-23, 3019, 21-30, 15-13.

The triumph is the 100th against 80 losses at Eastern for fifth-year head coach Jolie Ward, who also won 51 matches and lost 37 in three years as head coach at Farmingdale State Univeristy between 2000 and 2002. Ward has led Eastern to back-to-back Little East Conference playoff titles and to at least a share of the last three regular-season conference titles. The Warriors lost four all-conference players from last year’s 30-10 team, including the conference’s offensive and defensive players of the year.

After opening its home season with a four-game win over Eastern Nazarene College Sept. 13, the Warriors had lost eight straight at Geissler Gym until Friday.

The Red Hawks had forced a decisive fifth game by leading Game 4 from start to end. Game 5 was tied five times, the final time at 12-12. Montclair scored three in a row to break from a 9-9 deadlock before the Warriors scored four in a row to take the lead for good, 13-12, on a Red Hawk attack error. Sophomore middle blocker Alexandra Silvestros’ (North Branford) match-ending kill sealed the victory.

Eastern brought a team attack percentage of .079 into the match, but managed to double that, compiling a .172 mark with 66 kills. Featuring an .878 reception percentage, the Warriors posted a mark of .912 against Montclair.

Junior Sandra Jaques (Milford) tied her career high with 18 kills as one of four players to record double figures in that category. Silvestros and classmates Ashley Tuggle (South Windsor) and Lindsey Odell (Dover Plains, NY) all added 11. Silvestros attacked at .241, Jacques .222. Defensively, sophomore Lauren Odell (Dover Plains, NY) led the way with 23 digs, senior Priscilla Dougherty (Island Park, NY) amassing 18, Lindsey Odell 16 and Jaques 15. Lauren Odell had a .902 reception percentage on a team-high 41 chances, with freshman Gianna Trombino (East Moriches, NY) making only one error on 21 tries.

As a team, Eastern exceeded its season average with a .930 serve percentage. Dougherty served 21 balls without an error, Lindsey Odell 22 with just two, and Trombino 19 with one. She also had three service aces. Trombino also contributed seven kills and ten assists, while Dougherty accumulated 35 assists.

Montclair, whose entire roster was comprised of freshman and sophomores, got 16 kills and eight blocks from 6-foot-1 inch sophomore middle blocker Anna Chesnakova. Sophomore middle blocker Kara Burnham matched Chesnakova with 16 kills, freshman outside hitter Devon Johnston adding 13 kills and nine digs. Sophomore outside hitter Sara Sirag had 19 digs, and sophomore setter Raisa Silva 47 set assists.

With the win, Eastern evens its record in five-game decisions to 3-3.

Eastern visits Connecticut College Saturday, facing the host Camels at 11 a.m. and Western New England College at 1 p.m.