FAIRFIELD, CONN.— The Cinderella story continues! In head coach
Amable Martinez's first year at the helm, the LIU women's volleyball team went from an underdog four seed to NEC Champions!
The Sharks took care of one seed Sacred Heart in four sets on Friday and when they returned to the court to take on defending conference champ FDU, their focus was even sharper. They went on to defeat the Knights in four sets 25-20, 21-25, 25-14, 25-13.
The first set was a fight, with both teams scoring in bunches early. The score was tied at 11 until the Sharks went on a bit of a run and gained a three-point lead. FDU would try to even it up, but a service ace by
Allie Merz and kills by
Cristal Paulino Rubel,
Amaris Smith and
Camelia Melendez would give the Sharks the victory.
LIU held an early lead in the second set but six straight FDU points would give the Knights a lead that they would never lose.
The third set would prove to be crucial for the title. The Sharks fired away early and grabbed a six-point lead. Melendez, Smith and
Bria Plante would lead the charge and the LIU lead would grow to as big to 11.
The momentum from this win would keep the Sharks flying high as they continued to dominate FDU. Another flurry of kills from the first-team outside hitters as well as blocks from Plante and
Rumur Rouille would knock the Knights down for the count. The championship winning point came off of an FDU attack error would send the Sharks to the NCAA tournament.
Camelia Melendez, who was named the tournament MVP, led the Sharks with 15 kills and tallied 30 for the entire tournament.
Amaris Smith, who was named to the all-tournament team, was second with 13 kills and led the team with 16.5 points.
Alasha Colon, an all-tournament player as well, had a team-high 23 digs and recorded five assists.
Selina Koç led the way with 36 assists.
Bria Plante and
Rumur Rouille dominated the front of the net for the second match in a row, combining for 6.5 blocks.
The Sharks will find out where they are heading for the NCAA tournament next Sunday at 6 p.m.
