Courtesy Worcester State Sports Information

The Worcester State volleyball team has been tabbed to be the seventh seed in the 2010 Division III ECAC New England Tournament as they will travel to play #2 Keene State in the opening round on Wednesday at 7 PM.

The Lancers, who sport a 15-17 overall record, make their fifth appearance in the ECAC Tournament. WSU last played in the tournament in 2008 as the #7 seed and lost to Johnson & Wales, 3-0, in the opening round. Worcester State comes off a hard 3-0 setback to Bridgewater State in the MASCAC semifinals this past Saturday.

Freshman Meg Brown (Dartmouth, MA) leads the Blue and Gold with 243 kills and 276 digs while junior Kristen Koles (Billerica, MA) (161), sophomore Becky Lebel (Millbury, MA) (152) and senior Brittney Ledoux (Nashua, NH) (108) have all put up triple-digit kill numbers. First-year Vicki O’Brien (Canton, MA) also has 246 digs and a squad high 33 service aces as Lebel and junior Juliana Tyo (Pepperell, MA) have combined for 47 of the team’s 78 blocks.

This marks the third time in the last four years that Keene State has qualified for the ECACs. The Owls were beaten in the semifinals in 2006 and 2007 by Brandeis in back-to-back years. Keene State was defeated by UMass Boston, 3-1 in the Little East championship game.

The Owls are propelled by junior Kristen Girard (Red Hook, NY) who has a squad-best 409 kills while classmate Bridget O’Bryant (Merrimack, NH) has contributed 360. Third-year Laurie Whalen (Niantic, CT) has handed out 1,102 assists while Whalen, Girard and senior Jamie Levine (Medfield, MA) each have 40-plus aces. Levine has also put up a team-high 662 digs while junior Ellyse Davis (Londonderry, NH) and sophomore Ali Facchiani (Niantic, CT) both have over 100 blocks apiece on the season.