Sullivan, Stoodley earn All-Tourney honors for Panthers

            PROVIDENCE, R.I. – Senior Meghan Sullivan was named Most Valuable Player and junior Casey Stoodley was named to the All-Tournament Team Saturday afternoon after leading the Plymouth State University women's volleyball team to the championship of the 2011 JWU Fall Classic, hosted by Johnson & Wales University at the Harborside RAC.

	Meghan Sullivan	Casey Stoodley

            The Panthers claimed the tournament title with a 4-0 record in the round robin, including four-set victories on Saturday over MIT and Little East Conference rival University of Massachusetts Dartmouth.  MIT and LEC foe Western Connecticut State University each finished the tourney with a 3-1 mark, while JWU and UMass Dartmouth were both 3-1 and City College of New York was 0-4.

            PSU extended its winning streak to seven matches and improved to 11-5 on the season. The Panthers dropped the first set against MIT, 25-15, but rebounded to sweep the next three sets, 25-22, 29-27, and 25-17.  MIT (16-5) is ranked 10th in New England.  Plymouth State completed the tourney with 25-17, 25-20, 16-25, 31-29 decision over UMD, defeating the Corsairs for the second weekend in a row.

            The Panthers used a balanced attack in the 3-1 win over MIT, as Casey Stoodley made 11 kills, Sullivan and junior Elissa Morin smashed nine apiece, and sophomore Allie Jones chipped in with eight.  Stoodley finished with a double-double as she collected a team-high 11 digs, while Sullivan and sophomore Kaitlyn Tedeschi made four blocks each.

            It was more teamwork in the 3-1 victory over UMD (25-17, 25-20, 16-25, 31-29), as senior setter Sarah Cady continued her outstanding distributing.  Cady accumulated 94 assists on the day, including a career-high 51 against UMD.  Stoodley finished with 13 kills, Sullivan and Jones added 10 each, and Tedeschi contributed eight.  Sullivan continued her efforts at the net, making a team-high four blocks.

            PSU is back at Foley Gymnasium on Tuesday, hosting rival Keene State College in a Little East match-up.

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