AMHERST TAKES WOMEN'S VOLLEYBALL CRABTREE CLASSIC TITLE
Oct. 10, 2009
WILLIMANTIC, Conn. – In a battle of the two tournament unbeaten teams, sophomore Katherine Kanoff (Pacific Palisades, CA) had 16 kills without an error to help carry the Amherst College women’s volleyball team to a three-game win over Eastern Connecticut State University Saturday afternoon and claim the team championship of the 29th Annual Crabtree Classic women’s volleyball invitational at Francis E. Geissler Gymnasium. Game scores were 25-20, 25-13, 25-9.
Ranked No. 9 in New England, Amherst (14-3) posted three three-set sweeps in the tournament. The Lord Jeffs defeated Emmanuel College Friday night and the University of New England Saturday afternoon before besting Eastern (10-12) in the final match of the tournament. Eastern was the defending champion and had won three of the previous seven titles.
Amherst gave up as many as 20 points in a game only twice, in Game two against New England and against Eastern in the first game. It was Amherst’s eighth straight win over Eastern after the Warriors took the first three decisions in this series.
Voted the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player, the 5-foot-9 inch Kanoff attacked at .471 against Eastern and at .423 earlier Saturday against New England. She collected 32 kills in the tournament with just one error.
Kanoff was joined on the all-tournament team by junior libero Rachel Yorke (Los Angeles) , who had 20 of her tournament total of 45 digs against Eastern. In the tournament, Yorke posted a reception percentage of .962, making only two errors on 52 tries.
Against Eastern, junior Jackie Berkley (Fullerton, CA) and sophomore Cristy Meier (San Anselmo, CA) combined for 18 kills. Senior Bethany Belisle (Austin, TX) followed Yorke with 11 digs and freshman Callie Neilson (Escondido, CA) put up 30 set assists.
Earlier Saturday, Eastern emerged with a four-game win over Emmanuel College in a match which was decided by a total of ten points. Against Amherst, no Eastern player had more than six kills. Sophomore Taylor Abelli (Cheshire, CT) had 17 digs and commited only one reception error on 25 tries. Sophomore Britt Carrier (Southington), who represented Eastern on the all-tournament team, had seven digs, three service aces and 13 set assists.
For New England Saturday in its win over Emmanuel and loss to Amherst, senior Claire Varner (Breckenridge, MI) had 22 kills and freshman Paige Curran (Chelmsford, MA) 13; junior Meghan Flynn (Stoneham, MA) totaled five blocks and all-tournament selection senior Ellen Choinski (Saunderstown, RI) 55 set assists. In the win over Emmanuel, Varner had 14 kills and freshman Lindsey Cashell (Merrimack, NH) 11 kills and 12 digs and junior Angie Gust (Manitowoc, WI) 11 digs. Gust also had a .947 reception percentage on 19 tries.
In Emmanuel’s two tight losses Saturday, junior Megan Clary (Cumberland, RI) collected 63 digs and freshman Samantha Andazola (Queen Creek, AZ) 62. All-Tournament Team pick sophomore Jenna Ross (Centerburg, OH) came up with 26 digs against Eastern. Offensively, senior Diana Grimaldi (Sandy Hook, CT) had 20 kills and attacked at .439, junior Megan Murray (Killingworth, CT) 19 kills and a .333 attack percentage, and senior Nicole McAllister (Hampden, ME) a team-high 21 kills. McAllister and Grimaldi also each added five blocks. . In addition to her digs, Andazola handled 54 receptions with just one error and Ross had 41 with just one miscue. Sophomore Kathryne Olsen (Fairhaven, MA) set for 70 assists.
Eastern, which had swept Emmanuel in September in the Saints’ opening match of the year, had more difficulty this time around. After the teams traded two-point decisions in the first two games, there were ten ties in Game 3 before the Warriors scored four straight to go up 22-18 en route to the three-point win. In the final game, the Saints erased an early 7-1 deficit The Saints led by five late in that game but couldn’t finish off the Warriors on game point and Eastern scored the final three points to close out the victory.
Offensively against Emmanuel, sophomore Kristianna Ibsen (Shelton, CT) had 16 kills and attacked at .389 and added four blocks, freshman Erin Moriarty (Higganum, CT) ten kills without an error and a .714 attack percentage and sophomore Samantha Slonski (Griswold, CT) 13 kills, 15 digs, three blocks and three service aces. Carrier put up a career-high 48 assists and added nine digs. Abelli dug up 25 balls, junior Alyssa Ruta (Holbrook, NY) nine and senior Ashley Tuggle (South Windsor, CT) eight.
29th Annual Crabtree Classic Women’s Volleyball Invitational
At Willimantic, Conn.
FINAL STANDINGS (Overall Record)
Amherst College (14-3)
Eastern Conn. (10-12)
U. of New England (7-10)
Emmanuel College (13-7)
All-Tournament Team
Katherine Kanoff* So. Amherst College Pacific Palisades, CA
Rachel Yorke Jr. Amherst College Los Angeles
Britt Carrier So. Eastern Conn. Southington, CT
Ellen Choinski Sr. U. New England Saunderstown, RI
Jenna Ross So. Emmanuel College Centerburg, OH
*-Most Outstanding Player