Springfield, MA - The Maine Maritime volleyball team dropped four matches against top competition at the WNEC Invitational over the weekend.

On Friday night the Lady Mariners took on the hosts and lost Western New England College 3, Maine Maritime 1 (27-25, 23-25, 25-15, 25-22). Chelsea Ward (Homer, AK) led the Lady Mariners with 17 kills while Melissa Lail (Elizabeth, CO) chipped in with 11 kills of her own.  Lauren Sakahara (Bellevue, WA contributed 14 digs in the loss.

On Saturday MMA dropped matches to Westfield State (25-21, 21-25, 25-18, 25-10), Western Conn. (25-17, 26-24, 25-22), and to eventual tournament champion Emerson College  (25-17, 25-20, 20-10).

Chelsea Ward (All-Tournament Selection) led the way with 41 kills while Jennifer Dixon (Woodstock, MD added 69 assists on the day.

Tournament MVP
Emerson - Senior middle hitter Lauren Zaniboni (San Diego, CA)

The All-Tournament Team
Emerson - Junior right side hitter/setter Jessica Drumright (SanFrancisco, CA)
Western Connecticut - Freshman middle hitter Melanie Lombardi (Danbury, CT)
Western Connecticut - Freshman middle hitter Paxton Thornton (Sharon, CT)
Western New England College - Senior setter Katharina Boes (BuffaloGrove, IL)
Maine Maritime - Junior outside hitter Chelsea Ward (Homer, AK)