2007 ECAC Division III South Women's Volleyball Championship

Preview 

First Round - Wednesday, November 7, 2007
(1) Johns Hopkins 3, (8) FDU-Florham 0 box score recap
(7) New York University 3, (2) New Jersey City University 1 box score recap
(5) Washington & Jefferson 3, (4) Lebanon Valley 2
(3) Carnegie Mellon 3, (6) Penn State Altoona 0 box score recap

Semifinals - Saturday, November 10 at Carnegie Mellon
(1) Johns Hopkins 3, (5) Washington & Jefferson 0
(3) Carnegie Mellon 3, (7) NYU 0

Championship Game - Sunday, November 11 at Carnegie Mellon
(3) Carnegie Mellon 3, (1) Johns Hopkins 2

For the championship bracket, click here. 

Championship Match Recap

(Courtesy of Carnegie Mellon Sports Information) 

PITTSBURGH, Pa. - The Carnegie Mellon women's volleyball hosted Johns Hopkins University in the championship match of the 2007 Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Division III South Volleyball Championships, Sunday, November 11. The Tartans had a great performance once again by sophomore Jess Brackin (West Chester, Pa./Henderson) in taking a 3-2 decision to claim the 2007 championship. Brackin's dominate play earned her Most Valuable Player honors of the championships.

Hopkins jumped out to an early 8-3 lead in game one, but the Tartans rattled off six straight points to take their first lead 9-8. The two teams battled until the Tartans took a 23-21 advantage off a block from senior right side Abbie Toney (Des Moines, Iowa/Johnston) and junior middle hitter Chisom Amaechi (New Haven, Conn./Hopkins). The block started an 8-2 run for the Tartans ending with a powerful kill by freshman Caroline Size (Lewes, Del./Saint Thomas More Academy), her fifth kill of the game, as Carnegie Mellon took game one 30-23.

The Tartans started game two with an early 4-2 lead. The score stayed within two points, as the Tartans never trailed until Hopkins' sophomore libero Kristen Kozielski gave Hopkins a 17-16 lead off a service ace. The Blue Jays from that point held the lead scoring ten of the last twelve points of the game including a stretch of nine straight to take game two 30-21.

The Tartans rebounded from their second game defeat to win game three 30-22. The Tartans jumped out to an early 5-1 lead before Johns Hopkins tied the game at seven. Carnegie Mellon reeled off eight of the next eleven points to build a five point lead at 15-10. Johns Hopkins narrowed the deficit to 15-12 before Carnegie Mellon managed four kills in a row. Amaechi collected the first two, followed by a kill each from Toney and senior outside hitter Kate Stepp
(Mechanicsburg, Pa.). The score moved to 24-21 in favor of Carnegie Mellon before the Tartans took six of the last seven points to win the game. The game ended on a service ace from sophomore setter Samantha Carter (San Antonio, Texas/O'Connor).

Senior Natalia Fijalkowski gave the Blue Jays a 6-2 lead on two straight kills to start game four.  The Tartans hung around and pulled within one point, 8-7, when sophomore Megan Killeen (San Jose, Calif./Archbishop Mitty) recorded two service aces. The game remained evenly matched until Johns Hopkins, like game two, was to strong for the Tartans down the stretch. The Blue Jays scored eight of the last eleven points to take game four 30-22.

The fifth and deciding game was won by Carnegie Mellon 15-13. The Tartans trailed 5-4 before going on a 6-1 run taking a 10-6 lead. Hopkins then rattled off three straight. The Tartans regrouped and went up 14-11. The Blue Jays made it interesting scoring the next two points making the score 14-13, but an attack error on the next volley gave the Tartans the victory. Brackin and Amaechi led the charge for the Tartans recording 14 kills apiece. Stepp was the Cardinal and Gray's next highest player in kills with nine, while Size ended the match with eight. Carter recorded her second highest number of assists in a match, as she had 57.

Defensively, freshman Cameron Griffin (Lake Forest, Ill.) recorded 25 digs, while Carter had 14. Stepp and sophomores Cara Fatigati (McMurray, Pa./Peters Township) and Julie Ng (Beijing, China) each had nine. The Tartans finished with a total of 17 blocks.

The Tartans end the season with a 23-15 record, as Johns Hopkins finishes their 2007 campaign with a 25-6 mark.