Courtesy Tufts Sports Information

MEDFORD, Mass. – The Williams College Ephs overpowered the Emerson College Lions 3-0 (25-22, 25-14, 25-16) in a first round matchup of the 2009 NCAA Women's Volleyball Championship on Thursday afternoon at Cousens Gymnasium on the campus of Tufts University.

Emerson held strong during the first set as they led by three points at 17-14, but at that point in the set Williams took control. After ties of 17-17, 18-18 and 19-19, the Ephs gained the advantage at 20-19 and never let the Lions get even on the way to a 25-22 first set victory.

In the second set, Williams jumped out to a quick lead of 4-1. The Lions rallied back for their only lead of the set at 7-6. After ties of 9-9 and 10-10, the Ephs stormed ahead scoring 15 of the final 19 points for the 25-14 win.

Williams looked to end it early in the third set going ahead 5-0 and once again Emerson battled back and tied it at 5-5. The Lions would assume a lead of three points at 14-11, but the Ephs asserted themselves again as they tied it at 15-15 and finished on a 10-1 run for the 25-16 win and the three-set sweep.

Junior Eleanor Levine (Atlanta, Ga.) led the Ephs (22-8) in kills with nine and she also added two service aces. Junior Emily Avis (Palo Alto, Calif.) recorded a match-high 30 assists to go along with 12 digs, while junior Kate Anderson (Berlin, Mass.) tallied eight kills.

For Emerson (30-7), junior Lauren Zaniboni (San Diego, Calif.) collected a match-high 11 kills and junior Sara Rutan (Santa Clarita, Calif.) had the match-high in digs with 19. Rutan, along with Zaniboni and first-year Kelsey Scanlon (Sonoma, Calif.) each served one ace. Sophomore Katie Bailey (Calabasas, Calif.) led the Lions with 13 assists.

"I thought we started off a little slow, but give a lot of credit to Emerson," Williams head coach Christi Kelsey said. "They're a very solid team. They have some great players and they came ready to play today. It took us a full set to get into our system, and finally we just got a little bit cleaner and a little bit sharper and we were fortunate enough at the end with our ball control to pull it out. But Emerson had a great year and hats off to them for being into the NCAA Tournament."

Williams will face the winner of Thursday's UMass-Boston/Westfield State first round match in the Tufts Regional semifinals of the 2009 NCAA Women's Volleyball Championship on Friday afternoon at 4:30 pm.