FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Bentley, No. 1 Seed in NE10 Championship, Grabs Three Major Awards.
MANSFIELD, Mass. – For the second-straight season, and third time in the past four years, American International has a player that earned Northeast-10 Conference Volleyball Player of the Year honors – as Andrea Serra takes home the league's biggest award in 2019.
Serra headlined the NE10 Volleyball All-Conference team awards on Wednesday afternoon, while Saint Rose's Tina Ceriello was named Libero of the Year and Bentley's Xio Lopp (Setter of the Year), Ingrid Murphy (Rookie of the Year) and Joey Pacis (Sandy Hoffman Coach of the Year) were also honored.
American International and Bentley tied for a league-best four selections to All-Conference teams, while five teams (Adelphi, Franklin Pierce, New Haven, Saint Anselm and Southern Connecticut) each had three. Additionally, the Falcons had three players named to the First Team.
All-Conference awards are voted on by the league's head coaches. For the complete list of honorees, please see below.
Serra, a four-time NE10 Player of the Week, had a sensational season for the Yellow Jackets – posting 4.37 kills per set, which is good for fifth in all of Division II. She is the league leader in kills (503), kills per set (4.37), points (566.5) and points per set (4.9). The Yellow Jackets are the two-seed in the NE10 Championship and will play three-seed Stonehill in the semifinals on Friday night at Bentley.
Saint Rose's Ceriello earned Libero of the Year after leading the NE10 in digs (540) and digs per set (5.35), proving to be the league's most potent defensive player. She becomes the first Saint Rose player to win the award since Katy Daniels in 2014. Ceriello was also named Second Team All-Conference.
Bentley's Lopp was a key reason for the Falcons' success this season – which included a 16-match winning streak. Lopp averaged 9.79 assists per set, second-most in the NE10, while also recording 2.86 digs per set. A four-time NE10 Setter of the Week, Lopp led Bentley to a regular season title and the top seed in the NE10 Championship.
Murphy was named Rookie of the Year after a remarkable freshman campaign, which saw her grab three NE10 Rookie of the Week awards. She averaged 2.28 kills per set, 2.92 digs per set and a total of 256 points on the season. Murphy becomes the first Bentley player to capture Rookie of the Year since Alex Kearney in 2006.
For the fourth time in his career - and the first time since its been named after Sandy Hoffman, Pacis captured the NE10 Coach of the Year award after leading the Falcons to the top seed in the NE10 Championship and a 12-1 record in league play. He has now won Coach of the Year twice at two different schools in the league - Bentley (2014, 2019) and Merrimack (2007-08). The award is named after Sandy Hoffman, Pacis' predecessor at Bentley and NE10 Hall of Famer, who recorded 758 career victories – fourth-most all-time in Division II history.
Friday night's semifinal matchups will be played at the Dana Center in Waltham, Mass., as Bentley takes on Saint Anselm (5 p.m.) and American International plays Stonehill (7:30 p.m.). Live streams of both matches will be available on NE10 NOW.
PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Andrea Serra, OH, AIC
SETTER OF THE YEAR
Xio Lopp, Bentley
LIBERO OF THE YEAR
Tina Ceriello, Saint Rose
ROOKIE OF THE YEAR
Ingrid Murphy, Bentley
SANDY HOFFMAN COACH OF THE YEAR
Joey Pacis, Bentley
FIRST TEAM (8)
Naomi Eckert, S, AIC
Andrea Serra, OH, AIC
Rachel Bruno, MB, Bentley
Xio Lopp, S, Bentley
Dani Milner, RS, Bentley
Mallory Nowicki, RS, New Haven
Catie McCarthy, OH, Saint Anselm
Sophia Poveda, OH, Stonehill
SECOND TEAM (8)
Sara Mandreja, OH, Adelphi
Cara McKenzie, MB, Adelphi
Jana Potic, OH, AIC
Ellie Ivanova, L, Franklin Pierce
Ingrid Lindstrom, MH, Franklin Pierce
Camille Garden, MB, New Haven
Tina Ceriello, L, Saint Rose
Abigail Epstein, MH, SCSU
THIRD TEAM (7)
Katarina Warburton, L, Adelphi
Sarah Lowery, OH, AIC
Abigail Garnhart, MH, Franklin Pierce
Michelle Henwood, S, Saint Anselm
Elise Jolly, MB, Saint Anselm
Tea Carter, S, SCSU
Ella White, OH, SCSU
All-ROOKIE TEAM (7)
Naomi Eckert, AIC
Ingrid Murphy, Bentley
Ingrid Lindstrom, Franklin Pierce
Julia Guarniere, New Haven
Michelle Henwood, Saint Anselm
Ella White, SCSU
Juliana Pacini, SNHU
ABOUT THE NE10
The NE10 is an association of 14 diverse institutions serving student-athletes across 24 NCAA Division II sports. Together we build brilliant futures by embracing the journey of every student-athlete.
Each year, 4,500 of those student-athletes compete in conference championships in 24 sports, making the NE10 the largest DII conference in the country in terms of sport sponsorship. Leading the way in the classroom, on the field and within the community, the NE10 is proud of its comprehensive program and the experience it provides student-athletes.