Last month, Long Island University women’s volleyball coach Kyle Robinson insisted that his defending five-time Northeast Conference champions needed to find a few challenges in league play to boost their status as one of the best teams in the region.

“The ultimate goal is to make the NEC a premier conference. It can’t be just LIU,� Robinson said.

Better luck next year, coach.

The Blackbirds have not only continued their domination of the conference this season, but wrapped up the No. 1 seed and home-court advantage throughout next weekend’s NEC Tournament by improving to a perfect 14-0 in league matches with a sweep of Robert Morris on Nov. 8 in Moon Township, Pa.

As usual, LIU senior middle blocker Martina Racic was in the center of the action, grabbing her second NEC Volleyball Player of the Week honor this season with a pair of stellar performances.

Racic, a native of Pula, Croatia, averaged 3.86 kills and 3.14 digs per set as the Blackbirds improved to 17-13 overall and extended their current winning streak to eight games with a three-sets-to-one victory over Saint Francis (Pa.) on Nov. 7 before sweeping past Robert Morris the next night.

Sacred Heart and CCSU are LIU’s closest competitors in the NEC standings, deadlocked in a tie for second at 11-3 in league play.

Winners of 14 of their last 15, the Blackbirds will host Central Connecticut State on Saturday at 2 p.m. at the Wellness Center before wrapping up the regular season against visiting Bryant at noon on Sunday.

Questions? Comments? Sound off to the Editor

© Brooklyn Daily Eagle 2009 All materials posted on BrooklynEagle.com are protected by United States copyright law. Just a reminder, though -- It’s not considered polite to paste the entire story on your blog. Most blogs post a summary or the first paragraph,( 40 words) then post a link to the rest of the story. That helps increase click-throughs for everyone, and minimizes copyright issues. So please keep posting, but not the entire article. arturc at att.net