By Sean Begin
With a spot in the Northeast Conference tournament already secure, the only impact the weekend’s games meant for the volleyball team was seeding.
Wins over Long Island University-Brooklyn and Saint Francis-Brooklyn, coupled with an LIU loss to Bryant on Sunday, would secure the number one seed for Central in the NEC tournament.
Central (20-8, 11-3 NEC) finished the regular season by recording their 20th win of the season in a 3-0 sweep over Saint Francis-Brooklyn (7-25, 3-11 NEC) on Sunday.
“That was one of our goals, to get the win today. We wanted to have this as a 20 win season and they accomplished that goal which is awesome,” said Coach Linda Sagnelli.
But a 3-0 loss to Long Island (21-7, 14-0 NEC) on Saturday ended the Blue Devils’ chances at bringing the tournament home.
“I think we were in a fog,” said Sagnelli. “We got a little too amped up for that game and it drained them [the players] emotionally when the game actually came.”
The loss snapped Central’s 10-game winning streak and ended their perfect record at home.
Central’s offense struggled against the Blackbirds, recording just 27 kills as a team, led by sophomore Heather Trueman’s 11, hitting just .129 as a team. Sophomore Makenna Lommori assisted on all of Central’s kills
“We had a couple mistakes here and there but when you’re playing against a team that makes very few mistakes, you can’t make more than they make. And that’s what happened,” said Sagnelli.
The loss ensured that the NEC tournament will be held at LIU this weekend, with CCSU taking the second seed overall, and that Sunday’s game against Saint Francis-Brooklyn would have no postseason impact.
Central and SFBK spent the majority of the match on Sunday exchanging points, but the Blue Devils managed to find just enough offense to get the win.
“We had a hard time finding our rhythm early on and our passing was a little inconsistent,” said Sagnelli. “We found just enough rhythm to be able to do what we needed to do today.”
Trueman and freshman Cassidy Stankowski led Central’s offense against the Terriers. Trueman recorded 15 kills on 23 attacks with no errors, posting a huge .652 hitting percentage. Stankowski added 14 kills of her own.
Seven players recorded an assist in the match led by 33 from Lommori, who also posted five kills and three digs. Freshman Rachel Fish led the team with 11 digs.
Central now sets its sights on the NEC tournament this weekend. The Blue Devils will face Sacred Heart University in the semifinals on Saturday while LIU will play Robert Morris University in the other semifinal.
“We have to focus on whomever we’re playing,” said Sagnelli, adding “As coaches we prepare for both [the final and semifinal] but for the team we really prepare them more for the semifinal match because without winning that one there is no finals.”