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Lowell, Mass. - The University of Massachusetts Lowell won its first ever Northeast-10 Volleyball Championship with a 3-2 victory over Adelphi University in the Northeast-10 Championship Final Saturday night at Costello Gym.

Adelphi jumped out to the early lead taking the first set 25-23, however UMass Lowell bounced back and took two-straight sets winning set two, 25-22, and then set three, 25-17. The Panthers won set four by the score of 25-21 to force a decisive fifth set.

Both teams battled back and forth in the final set although the River Hawks held a slim lead throughout and eventually closed the match out with a 15-12 victory.

Senior Nichole Rondeau (Dracut, Mass.) led the way for UMass Lowell as she recorded a team-high 33 assists to go along with nine digs as she was named the championship’s Most Outstanding Player. Junior outside hitter Jillian Hadder (Yucipa, Calif.) recorded 12 kills and a team-high 25 digs.

Senior Elsa LeGrand (Highlands Ranch, Colo.) added 17 kills in the victory, while fellow classmate Allie Eide (Gresham, Ore.) tallied 17 digs. Eide was named to the All-Championship team for her performance throughout the championship.

Adelphi junior outside hitter Hilary Pavels (North Woodmere, N.Y.) picked up a team-high 18 kills to go along with 16 digs for the Panthers. Junior setter Heather Mau (Honolulu, Hawaii) recorded a match-high 56 assists, while senior libero Amy Williams (Bloomington, Ind.) made a match-high 26 digs. Williams joined Eide and Rondeau on the All-Championship.

UMass Lowell defeated No. 8 Southern Connecticut State University earlier in the afternoon in the semifinals, 3-1, to advance to the finals. Both teams split the first two sets with the River Hawks taking set one with ease, 25-9. The Owls bounced back and took a close set two 25-22 to tie the match, however UMass Lowell put the pressure on taking set three, 25-10. Finally, the River Hawks closed out the match with a 25-13 victory in set four.

In the other semifinal match, Adelphi and Bentley University battled back and forth in a competitive five set match, however when it was all said and done the Panthers took the decisive fifth set, 15-9. Adelphi tied the match each time Bentley took the lead as the Falcons took set one (25-16) and three (25-19).

With the championship victory, UMass Lowell earned the automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. The tournament pairings will be announced Sunday night on www.ncaa.com.

With 16 member institutions the Northeast-10 shares the distinction of being the largest Division II conference in the country along with the PSAC and WVIAC. Its 23 championship sports provide athletic opportunities for over 5,500 student-athletes, the largest such program of any Division II conference.

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2009 Northeast-10 All-Championship Team
Amy Williams – Adelphi
Kambryn Williams – American International
Alaura Berry – Bentley
Elizabeth Cheek – Le Moyne
Allie Eide – UMass Lowell
Nichole Rondeau – UMass Lowell
Janeeka Williams – New Haven
Stephanie Kazmierczak – Pace
Jenna Tammel – Southern Connecticut
MVP: Nichole Rondeau – UMass Lowell