By Director of Athletics Dan Blair

Haverhill, MA (October 31st, 2023) – As the Northern Essex women’s volleyball team prepares to play in the upcoming NJCAA National Tournament,  four members have been named to the All-Region teams.

Highlighted by Vielka Sanchez’s (Lawrence) selection as the Region 21 Player of the Year, she was joined on the All-Region First Team by Abigail Heredia (Lawrence) and Maria Reyes (Lawrence). Chantel Melgen (Lawrence) was named to the second team.

The Knights will be the #14 seed in the upcoming NJCAA National Tournament slated to begin on Thursday, November 9th, at the Alliant Energy Powerhouse Arena in Cedar Rapids, IA.

The Knights will open up national tournament play at 9:00 am CT/10:00 am ET as they will take on #3 seed Century College of Minnesota.

With a win, the Knights would advance to a winner’s bracket match on Thursday evening at 5:30 pm; a loss and the Knights will move into Friday morning’s elimination bracket at 10:00 am.

The NECC and Century match winner will get the winner of Finger Lakes Community College (NY) and College of Dupage (IL).

The tournament will conclude with the national championship match and placement matches on Saturday, November 11th.

Northern Essex is making its first-ever appearance in the national tournament and, as a team, currently leads the nation in aces per set with 5.86, while Vielka Sanchez (Lawrence) ranks second nationally, contributing 1.87 aces per set. Abigail Heredia (Lawrence) ranks second nationally in hitting percentage at .421.

Tournament play can be watched via live stream here.

Tournament Seeding:

Dallas-Eastfield
Owens (OH)
Century
Monroe-Bronx
Fulton-Montgomery (NY)
Finger Lakes (NY)
Caldwell Tech (NC)
Harper College (IL)
Delta College (MI)
Dallas-Brookhaven
DuPage (IL)
Alexandria Tech (MN)
Northampton (PA)
Northern Essex
Raritan Valley (NJ)
Dutchess (NY)