Wentworth defeats Hamilton, Framingham State to Even Record at 2-2

BOSTON, Mass. – Both Emerson and Plymouth State won both of their matches today to finish the 2009 Emerson/Wentworth Women's Volleyball Invitational with an unblemished 4-0 record.  The two-day tournament featured nine institutions who competed in four matches apiece at both Emerson College and Wentworth Institute of Technology.

Emerson opened play with a 3-0 (25-10, 25-13, 25-20) win over FDU-Florham.  Junior Lauren Zaniboni (San Diego, Calif.) had 12 kills, 10 digs, two aces, and three blocks, while freshman Kelsey Scanlon (Sonoma, Calif.) recorded eight kills and sophomore Kate Bailey (Calabasas, Calif.) had 20 assists.  The Devils got five kills from sophomore Katlyn Mullane (San Antonio, Texas) to go along with 14 digs from junior Rachel Highley (New Holland, Pa.) and 15 assists from classmate Kerry Kuperman (Scottdale, Ariz.).

FDU-Florham completed tournament play with a 3-1 mark after defeating Salve Regina, 3-0 (25-15, 28-26, 25-17).  Mullane had nine kills and 12 digs, while senior Meghan Droge (North Merrick, N.Y.) had eight kills.  Kuperman dished out 22 assists while Highley had 24 digs as the Devils improved to 4-2 on the season.  For the Seahawks, senior Natalie Rubenoff (New Hartford, Conn.) had seven kills, while classmate Brittany Canaff (Paramus, N.J.) had four kills and 10 digs.

Emerson would defeat Salve Regina, 3-1, to finish 4-0 and see the Seahawks tournament record fall to 1-3.  The two teams split the opening two sets with the Lions winning, 25-21, and Salve Regina (1-3) taking a 27-25 win in the second set.  Emerson took the third set, 29-27, and closed out the match with a 25-14 win in the fourth set.  The Lions (4-0) received 21 kills, 16 digs, and five blocks from Zaniboni to go along with 12 kills and four blocks from senior Erin Connolly (North Quincy, Mass.).

Plymouth State posted a 3-0 victory over Ramapo, winning 25-20, 25-19, and 25-22.  The Panthers received a 16-kill, four-block performance from senior Eliza Badeau (Foster, R.I.), while senior Brianna Kleckner (Terryville, Conn.) dished out 33 assists.  Defensively junior Kelsey Petty (Salem, N.H.) and sophomore Alex Avery (Milton, N.H.) led the way with 17 and 14 digs, respectively.  The Roadrunners were paced by sophomore Kayla Anders (Harrington Park, N.J.), who had nine kills and hit .500, while sophomore Tiffany Fischer (Woodcliff Lake, N.J.) had 23 assists.

Ramapo closed out tournament play with a 2-2 record after defeating Simmons, 3-1.  The Roadrunners dropped the first set, 23-25 before taking the next three sets by 25-14, 25-18, and 25-19 scores.  Anders had 12 kills and four blocks, Fischer had 35 assists, and sophomore Maura Burke (Wyckoff, N.J.) had eight kills and eight blocks.  The Sharks got six kills from sophomore Kate Fionte (Andover, Mass.) to go along with 26 digs from senior Jessica Hambleton (Methuen, Mass.).

Plymouth State would not drop a set during the tournament, going a perfect 12-for-12 after a 3-0 defeat of Simmons.  Badeau had 10 kills and four blocks while Kleckner added 24 assists.  Defensively, Avery and Petty had 12 and 11 digs, repectively.  Simmons, which finished tournament play at 1-3 and fell to 1-4 on the season, received eight digs and 16 digs from sophomore Meaghan Flynn (Laguna Beach, Calif.).

Wentworth picked up its first win of the season with a 3-1 win over Hamilton.  The Leopards took the first set, 25-20, before falling in the second set, 22-25.  Wentworth would win the next two sets by 27-25 and 26-24 scores to close out the match.  Sophomore Julie Bruton (Montgomery, Texas) had 12 kills and 16 digs, junior Sam Vinciguerra (Somersworth, N.H.) had 11 kills, and freshman Julie Rahilly (Nashua, N.H.) had 15 digs and nine aces.  Senior Courtney Zink (Falmouth, Mass.) had 27 assists in the match.  Freshman Ally Martella (Washington, D.C.) paced the Continentals with 12 kills and three blocks, while classmate Amanda Cohen (Port Washington, N.Y.) had eight kills and seven aces.

The Continentals picked up their first tournament win to improve to 1-3 with a thrilling, five-set win over Framingham State.  Hamilton won the first two sets, 25-17, and 25-22, before the Rams came back to force a deciding set with a 25-17 win in the third set and a 25-16 win in the fourth set.  The Continentals would prevail in the fifth set, 15-11.  Cohen paced Hamilton with 13 kills and five aces, while freshman Cecile Pikus (Short Hills, N.J.) had 22 assists, seven digs, and two aces.  Framingham State received 15 kills and 15 digs from junior Ashley Trudeau (Rockland, Mass.) to go along with 18 digs from junior Jessi Goode (Marstons Mills, Mass.) and 24 assists from freshman Camryn Maguire (Natick, Mass.).

Wentworth evened its record to 2-2 on both the tournament and the year with a 3-1 win over Framingham State.  The Leopards led, 2-0, after winning the first two sets by 25-23 and 25-21 scores before the Rams came back to take a 25-19 win in the third set.  Wentworth closed out the match with a 25-14 win in the fourth set.  Bruton had 17 kills and 20 digs, while Vinciguerra had 10 kills, Rahilly had nine kills and six aces, and Zink had 39 assists.  The Rams, who went 0-4 at the tournament and dropped to 1-4 on the year, got seven kills and four aces from Trudeau, 35 digs from Goode, and 19 assists from Maguire.

An individual from each institution was selected to the all-tournament team.  Nominations came from that player's head coach as well as the head coach of the opposing team for that match.  The team is listed below:

School, Player (Class, Position, Hometown)

Emerson, Lauren Zaniboni (Jr., MH, San Diego, Calif.)

FDU-Florham, Kerry Kuperman (Jr., S, North Merrick, N.Y.)

Framingham State, Ashley Trudeau (Jr., OH, Rockland, Mass.)

Hamilton, Amanda Cohen (Fr., OH, Port Washington, N.Y.)

Plymouth State, Eliza Badeau (Sr., MH, Foster, R.I.)

Ramapo, Kayla Anders (So., MB, Harrington Park, N.J.)

Salve Regina, Brittney Canaff (Paramus, N.J.)

Simmons, Kate Fionte (So., OH, Andover, Mass.)

Wentworth, Julie Bruton (So., MB, Montgomery, Texas)