Greyhound women's volleyball wins NINTH Worcester City Tournament; Marilisa Strand named MVP

September 8, 2007

WORCESTER, MA -- Setter MARILISA STRAND (Sarasota, FL/Cardinal Mooney) was named the tournament Most Valuable Player as she helped Assumption College defeat Worcester State College and host WPI to win the 2007 Worcester City Volleyball Tournament.

The Greyhounds have dominated the tournament in recent years winning the last five and extending their match win streak to 16 straight. The last time the Greyhounds lost in the tournament was vs. Clark (2-3) in the first round of the 2001 event.

Overall they have won the tournament nine times . . . 1988, 1994, 1997, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2006 and 2007.

The Greyhounds are off to a fast start winning four straight matches overall to move to a 5-1 record.

Strand was superb for the winners with 53 assists (8.83 per game) in the two matches to go along with 10 kills in 11 attempts (one error for a .818 hitting percentage). Strand was putting the finishing touches on a superb statistical week as she hit .619 this week with 17 kills and also had 81 assists and 29 digs.

The Greyhounds did not lose a game in the tournament as they defeated Worcester State (3-0) in the opening round and host WPI (3 0) in the championship game.

Freshman middle blocker AIMEE DRAINVILLE (Rockville, RI/Chariho) with 21 kills was an offensive force, while three other Hounds ended the day with 10 kills including sophomore outside hitter JESSICA HALLER (Meriden, CT/Maloney) (also 26 digs), sophomore middle blocker COURTNEY STRATTON (Hudson, NH/Alvirne) and Strand.

Senior/captain libero LAUREN RASWYCK (Litchfield, NH/Campbell) continued her assault on the Hounds record book with 36 more digs to bring her career total to 1,566 which is second only to Annie LeClerc '03 who finished her career with 1,820. Raswyck, just Tuesday night, set the Greyhounds team record with 53 digs against Northeast-10 Conference rival Saint Anselm in a 3-2 victory.

Sophomore defensive specialist KELLY BLUMENAUER (Islip Terrace, NY/East Islip) chipped in with 12 service aces (and 13 digs), while sophomore captain SARAH SULLIVAN (Bourne, MA/Bourne) finished with 36 digs.

The Greyhounds are next in action TUESDAY when they host Northeast-10 Conference rival Southern New Hampshire University.

TOURNAMENT SCORES

First Round: WPI 3, Clark 1

Game Scores: 30-24, 12-30, 30-24, 30-27

First Round: Assumption 3, Worcester State 0

Game Scores: 30-26, 30-15, 30-15

Third-Place Match: Worcester State 3, Clark 2

Game Scores: 22-30, 28-30, 30-27, 30-21, 15-10

Chamionship: Assumption 3, WPI 0

Game Scores: 30-24, 30-26, 30-17

CLICK HERE for complete Assumption-Worcester State scoring summary