Volleyball Clinches Top-Seed for America East Championships; Sweeps UMBC to Earn Share of Conference Regular Season Title

Sunday, November 15

Catonsville, Md.

1 PM

University of New Hampshire

19-8, 11-1AE

University of Maryland Baltimore County

12-14, 6-6AE

New Hampshire

UMBC

For the third-straight year, the road to the America East volleyball title will go through Lundholm Gymnasium.

Photo by: Greg Greene

Volleyball Clinches Top-Seed for America East Championships; Sweeps UMBC to Earn Share of Conference Regular Season Title

11/15/2015 4:43:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

Box Score

BALTIMORE - The University of New Hampshire volleyball team clinched a share of the America East regular season title with Sunday's sweep over the University of Maryland, Baltimore County at RAC Arena. For the third straight season, UNH will serve as the host institution for the America East Championships (Nov. 20-21).

UNH's 11^th sweep of the season came by scores of 25-15, 25-17 and 25-21. The University at Albany and New Hampshire share the regular season crown by compiling identical 11-1 league records. The Wildcats prevailed in the tie-breaker that decides home court advantage by point winning percentage in conference sets. It marks the third consecutive season and sixth in program history that New Hampshire is atop the America East standings at the end of the regular season. UNH finishes the regular season with a overall record of 19-8. UMBC's season comes to an end, finishing 2015 with an overall record of 12-14 and 6-6 in conference frays.

New Hampshire's offense was led by a pair of 10-kill efforts from senior outside hitter Tori Forrest (Powder Springs, Ga.) and junior middle blocker Demi Muses (Orangevale, Calif.). Muses registered a career-high .600 hitting percentage on 15 swings and one error. Senior middle blocker Cassidy Croci (Sylvania, Ohio) pitched in nine kills on the strength of a .438 attack percentage. Junior setter Keelin Severtson (Delray Beach, Fla.) orchestrated the offense to a .433 hitting percentage with 31 assists while chipping in five kills (career-high), five digs, two service aces and two blocks. Sophomore Courtney Bowman (Chagrin Falls, Ohio) anchored the backline with a match-high eight digs. New Hampshire, ranked eighth in the nation in service aces per set entering the weekend (1.78), tallied six aces in the sweep.

Senior outside hitter Sherelle Walker landed a match-high 13 kills backed by a .450 hitting percentage to pace UMBC offensively. Freshman outside hitter Maddie Schneider tallied 12 kills to bolster the attack. Rookie setter Krytsia Negron piloted the offense with 23 assists while shoveling out a team-high six attacks. Senior middle blocker Krystal Williams racked up five blocks and four kills.

UNH took control of the first set with nine kills out of the gate to help the blue and white capture a 14-8 lead. UMBC tried to get organized after the timeout as Walker pitched in a couple of kills. However, the 'Cats maintained a minimum six-point cushion for the remainder of the set, highlighted by aces from senior outside hitter Maggie Kenney (Merrimack, N.H.) and Forrest to take set one.

Severtson started the second stanza with two service aces sandwiched by a kill from Forrest. Despite the quick start, the Retrievers swiftly matched the scoring of the Wildcats as the score stood knotted at eight. Forrest slammed another kill, adding to her tally as the Retrievers opted to huddle, looking up at a 9-8 deficit. New Hampshire was not phased by UMBC's adjustments as the blue and white extended its lead to five points at the 15-10 and 20-15 marks. UNH's offense would not let up as Forrest and Muses tacked on more points to up the advantage to 23-16, forcing the home team to burn another timeout. The Retrievers broke out the huddle with a kill from Schneider, but the 'Cats slammed the door in the set with back-to-back terminations by Forrest.

Croci chalked up three kills out of the chute to start set three, but UMBC kept pace with the scoring initially as the frame was tangled at 7-7. The 'Cats then landed six straight points on the strength of three kills from Muses. UMBC remained resilient after taking a timeout, chipping away at the UNH lead with a 7-3 response punctuated by back-to-back combo blocks from Abbie Mirabella and Williams. However, New Hampshire would not relinquish its lead. The visitors turned to Muses and Severtson to provide the final push. Muses registered match-point on a kill that dropped inside the line to give the Wildcats their third-straight win.

Lundholm Gymnasium sets the stage for the America East Championships, beginning Friday, Nov. 20. The top-seed Wildcats are paired up against fourth-seeded Binghamton University on Friday at 7 p.m. UAlbany, the second-seed, will clash with third-seeded Stony Brook University at 4 p.m. on Friday as well. The championship game will be held Saturday, Nov. 21 at 5 p.m.

For more information about the upcoming America East Championships, please visit Championship Central at AmericaEast.com.

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