Volleyball Sweeps SHU to Clinch Postseason Berth

The Central Connecticut women's volleyball team clinched its 12th consecutive Northeast Conference Tournament appearance with a sweep of Sacred Heart on Sunday afternoon at the William H. Pitt Center.

The Blue Devils trailed 20-14 in the first set, but rallied to win 27-25.  CCSU dominated the second set winning 25-14 and then closed out the match with a 25-23 victory in the third set.

The Blue Devils improve to 11-15, 7-7 NEC with the victory, while Sacred Heart falls to 9-19, 4-10 with the loss.

Senior Rachel Dunlap and sophomore Brooke Schwab led CCSU with excellent play on offense and defense.  Schwab delivered nine kills and a .467 hitting percentage on offense, while Dunlap hit .429 and connected for seven kills.  Defensively, Dunlap posted 10 total blocks and Schwab contributed eight.

Junior Makenna Lommori collected a team-high 10 kills and also had five digs and four blocks.

Junior Ashley Lenington ran the offense for the Blue Devils and recorded 28 assists.

Sophomore libero Rachel Fish had a team-high 10 digs with senior Brittany Schumacher posting nine.

As a team, CCSU was credited with 17.5 total blocks.  In addition to Dunlap, Schwab and Lommori, Lenington, sophomore Nicole Dean and freshman Nicole Celarek also recorded multiple blocks in the match.

The Northeast Conference Tournament will be played on Saturday, Nov. 22 and Sunday, Nov. 23.