Volleyball Ends Season With 3-2 Loss to Top Seed Sacred Heart in NEC Tournament

The Central Connecticut volleyball team had its 2010 season come to an end on Saturday afternoon with a 3-2 loss to top seed Sacred Heart in the Northeast Conference Tournament. Sophomore Emily Cochran led the Blue Devils with 13 kills while senior Amanda Bayer added 37 assists in the five set loss. The Blue Devils end the season with an 11-18 overall record.

Sacred Heart won the first set 25-15 before the Blue Devils rebounded to win the second 25-22 to even the match at 1-1. Sacred Heart won the third set 25-20, but the Blue Devils again rebounded to win the fourth set 25-16 to even the match.

The top seeded Pioneers won the fifth and deciding set 15-10 to advance to the NEC title game on Sunday at 3 p.m. The tournament is being played on the Sacred Heart campus.

Cochran's 13 kills led the Blue Devils, while teammate Sara DeLacey added 11 kills in 29 attempts and hit .241 in the match. DeLacey was a Second Team All-NEC selection this season, it was announced on Friday night.

Senior Kaitlin Petrella had 22 kills to lead the Blue Devil defense, while sophomore Blaike King had 16 digs and 10 kills in the loss. Central had five players post at least 10 digs in the match, they had 77 as a team. They added 15 blocks, led by seven from DeLacey and eight from Jamie Rademacher.

The Blue Devils end the season with an 11-18 overall record. They advanced to the NEC Tournament for the eighth season before losing to the Pioneers on Saturday afternoon.