United States Coast Guard Academy - Department of Athletics - Volleyball

NEW LONDON, CONN.--(11/4/08)--Seniors Nicole Gurr and Mary Bitzer each had 11 kills in the final home game of their career leading fourth-seeded Coast Guard to a 3-0 (25-14, 25-20, 25-23) win over fifth-seeded Smith in the quarterfinals of the New England Women’s and Men’s Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) tournament.

Coast Guard (14-15), which finishes a perfect 13-0 at home this season, advances to the NEWMAC tournament semifinals for the eighth straight season and will now play at top-seeded Springfield on Friday night at 5 p.m.

Smith, which beat Coast Guard 3-2 in the regular season, ends its season with a record of 12-20.

Coast Guard jumped out to a 10-3 lead in the opening set and won it easily 25-14.

In game two, Smith led 18-17 before Bitzer served four straight as the Bears scored eight of the final 10 points to capture the second game 25-20.

The Bears closed out the match winning a back-and-forth third game. Coast Guard, which trailed 6-2 early, led by as many as three at 16-13 and scored the final two points of the game to win 25-23.

Freshman Nicole Johnson added nine kills, junior Carin Sweeney had a team-high 11 digs while sophomore Heather Watka had 18 assists and two blocks for Coast Guard.

Junior Mikal Minarich and classmate Bethany Weiss led Smith with seven kills each while Weiss had a team-high four blocks.

Freshman Jacqueline Sparagna added six kills while sophomore Brianne Connizzo had 12 digs for the Pioneers.