Plymouth State earns 6th straight postseason berth
The Plymouth State University women’s volleyball team
received its sixth consecutive postseason berth Monday with its
selection to the ECAC Division III New England Tournament.
The Panthers (20-11) received the eighth seed in the tournament,
and will visit top-seeded Brandeis University (25-10) Wednesday at
7 p.m. at Auerbach Arena. Plymouth State is playing in the ECAC
Tournament for the fifth time in six years, in addition to an NCAA
Tournament berth in 2004.
The other first-round matches on Wednesday include second-seeded
Coast Guard (21-6) hosting seventh-seeded Western Connecticut State
University (19-12); third-seeded Colby-Sawyer College (26-7) taking
on sixth-seeded Smith College (17-14); and fourth-seeded Johnson
& Wales University (27-11) facing fifth-seeded Keene State
College (24-11). The highest remaining seed will host the
semifinals on Saturday, Nov. 10, with times to be announced
following first-round action.
Wednesday’s match will be the second meeting of the season
between Plymouth State and Brandeis. The Judges swept the Panthers,
3-0, on Friday, Oct. 26, in the annual Brandeis Judges Classic.
Plymouth State, led by 10th-year head coach Moira
Long, received the ECAC berth after finishing in third
place in the Little East Conference regular season with a 4-2
conference record. PSU was knocked out of the LEC Tournament in the
semifinals by Western Connecticut, 3-1.
Brandeis is the defending ECAC New England champion and the top
seed for the second straight season. The Judges are two wins shy of
tying the school record for victories set in 2003.
PSU won its first-round match in the ECAC Tournament in 2003 and
2005 before falling in the semifinal round both seasons. The
Panthers were first-round victims in 2002 and 2006. Plymouth State
was the second seed last season but was upset on home court by
seventh-seeded Johnson & Wales, 3-2.
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