Volleyball Tops Becker in NECC First Round

NEW LONDON, Conn. – Fourth-seeded Mitchell College came away with a 3-0 victory (25-13, 25-18, 25-19) over fifth-seeded Becker College in the first round of the 2019 New England Collegiate Conference Women's Volleyball Championship on Tuesday night at the Yarnall Athletic Center.

Mitchell (14-11 overall) advances to the semifinals and will play at top-seeded Eastern Nazarene College on Friday, November 8 at 7:00 p.m. Becker ends the season with an overall record of 10-16.

Olivia DeLoach led all players with 12 kills and added 14 digs to pace Mitchell, which won a NECC tournament game for the first time in school history. Bree Rudolph contributed nine kills while Claire Binfield and Lexi Hubbard combined for 31 assists. Cameron Childs supplied a match-high 21 digs.

Emily Peterman and Teddie Flynn led Becker with six and five kills, respectively. Morgan Gould finished with 13 assists while Olivia McGuinness tacked on 20 digs. 

In the opening set, the Mariners never trailed after a kill by DeLoach put them ahead 3-2. She went on to contribute five kills in the stanza as Mitchell built the lead to as many as 12. 

The second set was back and forth until Mitchell won six of eight points during a span that opened up a 15-11 lead. From there the Mariners poured it on down the stretch, with Ariana Carter, Laurissa Amaker, Binfield and Rudolph each contributing kills to help close out the set.

The score was tied at 9-9 in the third when Mitchell reeled off five straight points to take control. Carter provided a pair of kills during the run while Rudolph added a kill and DeLoach had an ace. Later on it was DeLoach who provided the match-clinching kill, setting off a celebration on the sidelines as the Mariners improved to 1-6 overall in NECC tournament play.

The Mariners held an 8-1 edge in total blocks in match. Carter finished with five kills and a match-high four blocks while Amaker came off the bench to add five kills and three blocks. 

The victory also gave Mitchell the most wins in a season since moving to the Division III level, surpassing the mark set by the 2006 team.