After one-year absence, Coventry spikers regain NCCC Tourney title

COVENTRY, Nov. 7 – Coventry survived a marathon match with Ellington in their NCCC Tournament semifinal Saturday afternoon and continued to roll with a 3-0 win over Granby to win the tournament for the eighth time.

The league champion Patriots won game four and game five, 15-11, to eliminate pesky Ellington in the semifinal. Abbie Zadrozny had 38 assists and 33 digs for the Patriots.

In the championship match, Coventry swept the Bears, 25-18, 25-8, 27-25 to win the tournament for the eighth time in nine tries. Blythe Fleming had nine service aces and Michela Hart had six kills for Coventry (21-1). Marieke Van der Mark had a team-high 16 kills and three blocks for Granby (16-6).

Granby is the only other team outside of Coventry to win a NCCC tournament championship with a 3-1 win over Avon a year ago.

2015 NCCC Tournament
First round
Ellington 3, Bolton 0 (25-20, 25-18, 25-20)
SMSA 3, Suffield 1 (25-7, 13-25, 25-15, 25-17)
Semifinals
Coventry 3, Ellington 2 (23-25, 25-19, 21-25, 25-17, 15-11)
Granby 3, SMSA 0 (25-16, 25-16, 25-19)
Final
Coventry 3, Granby 0 (25-18, 25-8, 27-25)

Regular season, final standings
                       NCCC       Overall
Coventry         16-0           19-1
Granby           13-3           15-5
SMSA             12-4           15-5
Ellington         11-5           14-6
Bolton               7-9          10-10
Suffield           6-10           9-11
Canton           4-12           8-12
Enfield            2-14           5-14
Classical         1-13           4-16