College report: NCCC wins WNYAC title
Niagara County Community College won three matches to earn the Western New York Athletic Conference championship in women's volleyvball.
The Trailblazers (22-8) have earned the No. 1 seed for next week's Region III tournament, which serves as the automatic qualifier for the National Junior College Athletic Association championships.
NCCC defeated Jamestown, Erie Community College and Genesee Community College en route to the title. Margo Pagano (Cheektowaga) was the tournament's most valuable player with 15 kills and 18 digs in the win over Jamestown and nine kills against ECC.
"We have a solid group of girls," NCCC coach Joe Daigler said. "No one is more important than any other and I think that had a lot to do with it. We don't have a big stud on our team but six girls who are capable of playing at a high level and playing well together."
Katie Boxler of ECC was named to the all-tournament team and was a WNYAC first-team selection. Also on the first team for the Kats were Alex DiGiore (Frontier) while Belinda Hernon and Julia Matters (Starpoint) were third-team selections
From NCCC, Kathie Kreppenneck (Starpoint), Ashley Berry (Starpoint) and Taylor Pagano (Cheektowaga) were named to the all-conference second team while Margo Pagano was a third-team selection.
With a pair of wins at the Continental Classic, Medaille set the school record for wins in a season, improving to 18-8. The Lady Mavericks defeated host Hamilton in five games, paced by Meghan Fahy's 11 kills, eight blocks and four service aces. Then the Mavs beat Anna Maria College in three games as Fahy was named to the all-tournament team.
Niagara extended its best-ever win streak to eight matches with a five-game win at Iona. Sophomore Hannah Hedrick had a career-high 31 kills while adding 14 digs for her 19th double-double of the season for the Purple Eagles (17-6, 10-2 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference). Sophomore Michelle James paced the offense with a career-best 61 assists, adding 14 digs.
Niagara plays at Fairfield (10-1 MAAC) today in a matchup of the top two teams in the conference.
Women's hockey
Freshmen Kathleen Bortuzzo and Jenna Hendrikx gave Niagara a two-goal advantage and the Purple Eagles held on for a 2-1 win over Quinnipiac in Hamden, Conn.
Bortuzzo scored at 6:27 of the second period to give the Purple Eagles a 1-0 lead off an assist by Jacqueline Spring. With 1:41 left in the period, Hendrikx notched her goal from Jennifer MacLean for the two-goal cushion.
Quinnipiac scored at 4:50 of the third period and held a 7-2 advantage in shots that period, but Jenni Bauer turned them away with 19 saves.
Niagara improved to 3-3-2 overall and is unbeaten against the Bobcats in their last 11 meetings (10-0-1).
Women's soccer
Amanda Sauer (Orchard Park) and Mindy Wendt (Starpoint) scored for Buffalo State in a 2-0 win over Brockport in the Bengals' SUNYAC regular-season finale. Virginia Porten recorded seven saves to earn the shutout. The Bengals improved to 5-3-1 in SUNYAC play and 7-4-5 overall. They close out the regular season against Elmira on Wednesday, then host Geneseo on Saturday in a SUNYAC quarterfinal game.
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