Local colleges: Camels reach finals of MIT volleyball tournament, finish second

Cambridge, Mass. — The Connecticut College volleyball team advanced to the final of the MIT Invitational Saturday before falling to Springfield in the final, 20-25, 25-20, 25-21, 25-13. Springfield is the second-ranked team in New England.

After beating Wellesley and Frostburg State on Friday, Conn (8-3) topped MIT to reach the championship match. East Lyme High School graduate Molly Giannattasio had 20 kills in the final for Springfield (15-0), off to its best start in program history.

Senior Amy Newman and junior Rachel Schroff were named to the All-Invitational Team for Conn.

Newman had 12 kills and 12 digs in the final. Bianca Smith contributed with eight kills and nine digs, Rachel Schroff had nine kills and Katie Ketcham 29 assists.

Earlier in the day, the Camels knocked off MIT (13-1), which was ranked fourth in New England, 25-22, 25-18 and 25-22. Newman had 13 kills and 11 digs in the match. Ketcham finished with 30 assists and a pair of blocks. Bianca Smith had eight kills while Erin Barker chipped in with four aces.

In other matches:

• Coast Guard went 2-1 at the Amherst Classic, beating Brandeis 3-0 and losing to Amherst 3-2 after beating Middlebury 3-2 Friday night.

Coast Guard (9-3) led 2-0 after Amherst before the hosts rallied to win. Kelsey DePorto had 17 kills, Kelsey Hickle had 13 kills, Karen Matic had 36 assists and 13 kills and Elise Sako had 17 assists. DePorto had 10 kills against Brandeis and also had 13 kills against Middlebury.

Men's soccer

• UConn, ranked No. 2 in the country, beat No. 12 St. John's 2-0 in a Big East game played before a sellout crowd of over 5,000 at Morrone Stadium.

Freshman Allando Matheson and sophomore Mamadou Doudou Diouf scored and Andre Blake made one save for UConn (8-0, 1-0).

• Coast Guard and Clark battled to a 1-1 tie in the New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference. The Bears (4-2-1, 0-1-1) took a 1-0 lead in the 30th minute on a goal by Robert Copeland (Joe Bodzewski and Bett Godiksen assisted) and goalie Richard Burns made five saves.

Women's soccer

• Coast Guard and WPI played to a scoreless tie in the NEWMAC. Goalie Mary Mills made nine saves for her fourth shutout of the seaosn, just one shy of the single-season record set by Joan Pavlish in 2003. The Bears (4-2-1, 0-1-1) snapped an eight-game NEWMAC winless streak.

• Conn College and Trinity battled to a 0-0 tie in a double-overtime NESCAC game. Natalie Signor (six) and Amy Lowitt combined to make nine saves for Conn (0-3-1, 0-2-1), including Signor's diving stop with 24 seconds remaining in the first overtime to deny Heather Lynne.

Football

• John Cianci threw for a pair of touchdown passes, but St. Thomas More lost 48-12 to Gunnery in the opener for both teams. Tre Wilson and Denzel Washington had the TD receptions.

Montville's Tyler Girard-Floyd carried the ball 10 times for 49 yards and Reggie Gaunichaux rushed for 45 yards on six carries. Qadeer Morgan had seven catches for 53 yards and Wilson caught six passes for 52 yards. Defensively, Malik Edwards made nine tackles and Morgan had an interception.

Field hockey

• Haley Thompson's second-half goal snapped a 1-1 tie and lifted Trinity to a 2-1 win over Conn in a NESCAC game. Brittany Fitzgerald scored, Ali Holland had an assist and Becca Napolitano made six saves for Conn (3-2, 1-2).

• Freshman Chloe Hunnable scored three goals and Marie Elena Bolles had three assists to lead No. 4 UConn to a 4-0 win over Providence in the Big East. UConn is 7-1, 2-0.

Men's cross country

• Coast Guard finished fifth in the 26-team Codfish Bowl at Franklin Park in Boston. Bates won the event with 45 points, while Coast guard finished with 176.

Trevor Siperek led CGA with an 18th-place finish (26:44). Kevin O'Brien was 22nd, Gary Ezzo was 41st, Joe Hill was 58th and Jordan Lee placed 74th.

• Connecticut College placed second in the seven-team Wesleyan Invitational with 66 points. Wesleyan was first with 15 points. Patrick Dermody, a freshman, was the top Camels finisher in 10th place with a time of 28:51. Billy Barnes placed 14th in 29:23, Aaron Davis 15th in 29:25, Colin Gallant 18th in 29:51 and Matt Boudreau was 25th in 30:36.

Women's cross country

• Freshman Beth Gollin finished 26th overall as Coast Guard placed ninth in the Purple Valley Classic Invite hosted by Williams College. Gollins time was 23:38 over the 6K course.

In addition, Sarah Blatt was 62nd (24:38), Meghan Kalinowski was 74th (24:56), Cameo Ulbricht was 94th (25:34) and Kendall Auth was 108th (25:51). Ulbricht and Auth are also freshman.

• Conn College finished second at the seven-team Wesleyan Invitational, with Kerry Dermody leading the Camels with her fifth-place finish at 19:58.

Conn has 59 points while host Wesleyan won with 25. Also making the top 25 for Conn were Lindsay Paiva (eighth), Lianne Swanson (13th), Aly Bonito (18th) and Michelle Wesley (21st).