Volleyball Selected Eighth Seed in ECAC Tournament
Framingham, Mass. – The Framingham State University women's volleyball team has been selected the 8th seed in the 2011 Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) New England Division III Tournament which is slated to begin later this week.
The Rams, who finished second in the Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) and were eliminated in the semi-finals of the conference tournament, are making their second overall appearance in the ECAC Tournament and their first since 2006.
The Rams, 19-13 on the year and 5-1 in the MASCAC, will face top seeded Coast Guard on Wednesday night at 7 p.m. The Bears (23-6) were the regular season co-champions in their conference and reached the semi-finals of the New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) Tournament. The Bears won the ECAC New England Championship in 2005 and 2009.
Framingham State is led this season by sophomore outside hitter Andressa Fernandes (Framingham, Mass.) who has 339 kills on the year to go along with 34 aces and 208 digs. Freshman Ashley Nee (Hanson, Mass.) has had a strong rookie season with 274 kills, 29 aces and 215 digs. Freshman libero Kayla Bertrand (Agawam, Mass.) leads the team with 487 digs, while classmate Morgan Drew (North Easton, Mass.) leads the Rams with 873 set assists.
Rounding out the tournament field are 2nd seeded Plymouth State who hosts 7th seed Western New England, 3rd seeded Endicott who hosts 6th seed Emmanuel and 4th seeded Keene State who hosts 5th seed Salve Regina. First round matches are played on Wednesday at the higher seed with the tournament concluding on Saturday with the highest remaining seed hosting the semi-finals and finals.