September 8, 2007
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Carole Grills
(413) 585-2703

Pioneers Take Third at Brandeis Volleyball Invitational

Northampton, MA: Smith volleyball opened their 2007 campaign with a third place finish at the Brandeis Invitational. The team defeated Babson and UMass-Boston by 3-0 scores on Friday night before falling to Rhode Island College and host Brandeis today 3-0.

All Tournament Team selection Catherine Shafer (Red Bluff, CA) led the team on Friday night against Babson and UMass-Boston tallying 9 and 10 kills respectively. Sophomore Brianne Connizzo (Demarest, NJ) and classmate Mikal Minarich (Hobart, IN) combined for 34 digs in those matches while first year Lauren Martinez (Phoenix, AZ) registered 15 assists against Babson and Alexandra Rissi (Scottsdale, AZ) tallied 23 against UMass-Boston.

In today's match against RIC, sophomore Bethany Weiss (Windham, NH) made 9 kills while Connizzo had 10 digs and Martinez 15 assists.  Minarich led the Pioneers with 8 kills and 14 assists and Shafer registered 14 digs in the loss to Brandeis.

The Pioneers will open NEWMAC play on Tuesday night, September 11 when they travel to MIT for a 7 p.m. contest.