2009 NECVA TOURNAMENT FIELD ANNOUNCED; RIVIER IS #1

After nearly three months of volleyball have been played, the North East Collegiate Volleyball Association has announced the field of 16 which will compete for the 2009 NECVA Championship from Friday, April 3 through Sunday, April 5 at Rockwell Cage and duPont Gymnasium, on the campus of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in Cambridge, MA. The NECVA Tournament Selection Committee announced the 2009 bracket on March 30, with the NECVA champion receiving the league’s automatic bid to the Molten Division III Men’s Invitational Volleyball Championship, to be held at Ramapo College. If Ramapo wins the 2009 conference title, the NECVA runner-up will also receive an automatic bid.

Rivier and Emmanuel, by virtue of being the top two teams in the GNAC, earned automatic qualification into the NECVA Tournament.

Rivier College (31-1), the #1 ranked team in the NECVA Top 10 poll for the last six weeks, is riding a remarkable 28-match winning streak and went a perfect 27-0 against NECVA schools this season. The 2006 NECVA champions, the Raiders have earned the #1 seed in the conference tournament for the first time in its history. Rivier, the GNAC Division champions, will make its ninth consecutive NECVA Tournament appearance since 2001. The Raiders will face #16 Hunter College, the runners up in the CUNYAC Division. The Hawks (23-15) will play in the tournament for the 12th consecutive year since 1998.

Emmanuel College (18-12) earned the 15th seed in the tournament. The Saints were GNAC Division runners-up and make their third tournament appearance and first since 2007. Emmanuel will face the #2 seed Nazareth College (25-4). The Golden Flyers won the Western Division title and will make their fourth straight NECVA Tournament appearance.

The NECVA Championship will be decided on Sunday, April 5 at 1 p.m. A live video webcast of the final will be available on the conference website.

For more information on the NECVA Tournament, click here.