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November 17, 2008

For Immediate Release

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Northeast-10 Player of the Week

Rhe-Ann Niles, New Haven (Gr., MH, St. Thomas, Barbados) - Led the team with 35 kills (3.18 kills per set) and a .491 hitting percentage in a 3-0 week as the Chargers captured the NE-10 Championship. Had 14 total blocks (12 assists and 2 solo) in the three matches and added nine digs and two assists. In the championship match against Merrimack, recorded a game-high 24 kills, .526 hitting percentage and 10 blocks.

Northeast-10 Setter of the Week

Yael Rosner, New Haven (Sr., S, Haifa, Israel) - Led the team with 118 assists (10.73 assists per set) as the Chargers captured the Northeast-10 Championship. Added 13 kills (.206 hitting percentage), 12 digs, five blocks and two aces. Had a game-high 55 assists, three blocks and three digs in the championship match against Merrimack.

Northeast-10 Libero of the Week

Alyssa Pickert, Merrimack (So., L, Tinley Park, Ill.) - Led the Warriors to the NE-10 Championship final with 6.91 digs per game, totaling 76 in 11 sets.

Northeast-10 Freshman of the Week

Elizabeth Akinbiyi, New Haven (Fr., MH, Miami Gardens, Fla.) - Ranked second on the team with 11 total blocks and third with 24 kills this past week as the Chargers captured the Northeast-10 Championship. Hit .419 in the three matches with just six errors in 43 attempts and had five solo blocks and six block assists. Recorded six blocks in the championship match against Merrimack.

Weekly Honor Roll:

Alex Kearney, Bentley (Jr., OH, La Jolla, Calif.) - Lifted Bentley past Franklin Pierce in opening round of conference playoffs with 13 kills, 13 digs and a .444 hitting percentage. Followed with 13 digs and nine kills in a loss to Merrimack in the semifinals. Overall, averaged 3.67 kills and 4.33 digs while hitting .288 in the tournament. Became fourth player in school history to join 1,000-kill, 1,000-dig club.

Cassie Kraft, Bentley (Jr., L, New Braunfels, Texas) - Averaged 5.17 digs during the conference playoffs with 16 against Franklin Pierce and 15 in the Merrimack match. Topped 500 digs for the third consecutive season.

Kristine Mickelson, Bentley (Jr., MH, San Diego, Calif.) - During the NE-10 playoffs, hit .474 while averaging 3.17 kills, 1.5 blocks and 1.0 digs. In a 3-0 win over Franklin Pierce, had seven kills, six blocks, two digs and a .375 hitting percentage. Hit .545 and amassed 12 kills, four digs and three blocks in semifinal loss to Merrimack.

Tori Piskulick, Bentley (Sr., S, San Diego, Calif.) - During the NE-10 tournament, averaged 6.5 assists and 1.8 digs. Had 18 assists, seven digs and two kills in a 3-0 win over Franklin Pierce, and 21 assists and four digs in the Merrimack.

Chelsie Kohout, Franklin Pierce (So., L, Harrison Township, Mich.) - Recorded a match-high 20 digs against Bentley in theNortheast-10 quarterfinal.

Caitlynn Parnell, Franklin Pierce (Jr., OH, Medina, Texas) - Led the Ravens with 10 kills in the Northeast-10 quarterfinal against Bentley.

Ale Kuncaitis, Merrimack (Sr., OH, Canton, Mass.) - Led the Warriors to the NE-10 Championship final with three double-doubles. Averaged 3.91 digs and 2.37 kills in 11 sets.

Elyse Lorenz, Merrimack (So., S, Frankfort, Ill.) - Led the Warriors to the NE-10 Championship final with 11.27 assists and 2.09 digs per game. Added a team-high three aces.

Katrina Ali, New Haven (Sr., L, Christ Church, Barbados) - Led the Chargers with 50 digs (4.55 assists per set) as the team captured the Northeast-10 Championship. Had a career-high 28 digs and no receive errors in the championship match against Merrimack. Also added three aces and three assists in three matches.

Charisse Cotton, New Haven (Sr., OH, East Patchogue, N.Y.) - Was second on the team with 33 kills (3.00 kills per set) and tallied a week-high 18 kills in the Northeast-10 Championship match. Also grabbed four block assists and six digs as the Chargers grabbed their first Northeast-10 Championship.

Anna Barczak, Stonehill (Fr., MH, Ridgefield, Conn.) - Hit .375 in a 1-1 week with 3.17 kills per set and .50 service aces per set, including a .435 attack percentage to go along with 11 kills, a service ace and three blocks in a quarterfinal sweep of American International.

Andrea Wirth, Stonehill (So., S, Mesa, Ariz.) - Averaged 9.33 assists per set and 2.67 digs per set in a 1-1 week, including 33 assists, 11 digs and a service ace in a sweep of American International in the NE-10 quarterfinals.

Weekly Notes:

BENTLEY: Bentley will be making its 10th NCAA tournament appearance, and fifth straight, when it takes on Bridgeport on Thursday afternoon. Junior Alex Kearney became only the fourth player in school history to accumulate both 1,000 career kills and 1,000 digs during Saturday’s NE-10 playoffs against Merrimack. Earlier that day, she became the sixth Bentley volleyball player to earn first-team All-Northeast-10 honors three times. Bentley was represented on the All-Championship Team at the NE-10 championships by junior Kristine Mickelson.

MERRIMACK: Making their second straight appearance in the Northeast-10 Championship, the Warriors earned their 20th win of the season in the semifinals against Bentley; marking the first time in school history they have reached the 20 win plateau.