Springfield, Mass. - Sophomore Lauren Bloch had 19 kills and 12 digs and was named the tournament's most outstanding player as second-seeded Coast Guard defeated top-seeded Springfield College on Sunday, 14-25, 25-17, 25-20, 25-21, to win the New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference tournament championship and earn an automatic bid to the NCAA Division III tournament.

It was the second NEWMAC title for the Bears (29-5). They won their first title in 2006 and have won 18 of their last 19 matches.

Coast Guard will learn today who it will play in the national tournament when the brackets are released at 11 a.m.

Springfield (29-4) was 13-0 at home. It beat Coast Guard, 3-1, in the only regular season-meeting between the two.

The Bears led the fourth game, 23-21, when freshman Kelsey DePorto (10 kills) had a kill for match point and an ace for the win.

Sophomore Karen Matic had 10 digs and a match-high 54 assists for the Bears while classmate Catherine Walker had 15 kills. Senior Jessica Anderson added 12 digs and sophomore Keriann Mason had 11 digs.

Junior Nicole Johnson and sophomore Rachel Cuthrell each had seven kills in the win.

In other matches:

• Rebecca Murray had 10 kills as UConn swept South Florida, 25-21, 25-20, 25-22, in a Big East match. Angela Roidt had 29 assists and Jordan Kirk had nine kills for the Huskies (5-18, 3-9).

H.S. cross country

• Westerly High's Jackie Burr placed ninth (19 minutes, 39 seconds) at Sunday's Rhode Island state championship at Ponaganset High School of North Scituate. Burr also qualified for the New England championships.

Providence's La Salle Academy won the team title (30 points) and Westerly placed eighth (265). Rachel Orlando finished 35th (20:58), Adeline Hanssen 62nd (22:04) and Amber Lacey 94th (22:58) for Westerly. Also, Hannah DeSarro was 97th (23:03), Kaitlyn Marone 102nd (23:11) and Jessica Orr 110th (23:24).

College wrestling

• Freshman Josh Gerry won the 133-pound title in his collegiate debut, beating sophomore teammate Joe Kidwell in the title match (6-2), as Coast Guard placed seventh at Saturday's season-opening Messiah Invitational.

Messiah tied Waynesburg for the team title (105 points). Coast Guard scored 30.5. Senior Andy Snyder finished third at 157 pounds.

Sailing

• Conn College's coed team placed third out of 18 teams at this weekend's Rhode Island State Championship Regatta.

Salve Regina won with 49 points and Conn scored 96. Mike Marshall and Marina Gluckman finished eighth in the A division for the Camels, while Kevin Martland, Sam Parish and Kevin Lau-Hansen were runner-ups in the B division.

Men's water polo

• Conn College lost all three of its matches and placed eighth at the weekend's Northern Division Championship. The Camels lost to St. Francis College (22-3), Harvard (18-5) and Queens College (17-10. Nick Sizer had six saves in three games for Conn (4-13) and Stonington's Ryan Pelham had three goals. Also, Clayton Witter had 28 saves and eight steals.