Volleyball Drops 3-0 Decision to Wheaton

BRIDGEWATER, Mass – The Bridgewater State University women's volleyball team dropped a non-conference match to visiting Wheaton College 3-0 thursday evening at the Adrian Tinsley Center on the campus of Bridgewater State University.

The Lyons even their record at 9-9 with the win, while the Bears fall to 9-6. Wheaton now holds a 26-17 advantage in the all-time series which dates back to 1988.

For the Bears, freshman outside hitter Kim Gowell (Durham, N.H.) and freshman right side Meaghan Coutu (Brookline, N.H.) both tallied five kills on the evening. Gowell also added three service aces and three digs. Freshman outside hitter Sarah Brogioli (Milford, Mass.) contributed three kills, one assist, one service ace and seven digs. Junior setter Bethany Votta (Cumberland, R.I.) provided the Bears with six assists, two services aces and four digs. Junior libero Victoria Caiano (Acushnet, Mass.) totaled three assists and eight digs. Senior setter Savannah Quintal (Assonet, Mass.) tallied one kill, seven assists, one service ace, and seven digs.

The Lyons were led by junior outside hitter Annah Shaheen (Portsmouth, N.H.) who notched eight kills (.185 hit %), four service aces, and eight digs on the night. Junior setter Julianna Flack (St. Petersburg, Fla.) led the Lyons in assists with 24, and also added seven digs and two service aces. Freshman defensive specialist Ariana Rajaee (Marlborough, Conn.) tallied nine digs and one service ace. Freshman outside hitter Sydney Lyon (Weston, Conn.) provided Wheaton with six kills (.417 hit %) and four digs. Junior middle hitter Megan Kelleher (Wethersfield, Conn.) added six kills (.667 hit %) of her own. Senior defensive specialist Sophie Wilhelm (Saunderstown, R.I.) posted a team leading ten digs in the match.

The Bears assisted on 19 of their 19 kills. Bridgewater State also notched seven aces, 39 digs and two blocks, while committing eight service errors. 37% of the Bears' scoring came from Wheaton serving errors (14), blocking errors (2) and ball handling errors (3).

The Lyons finished with a .279 hitting percentage and assisted on 30 of their 33 kills. Wheaton also notched 46 digs, 12 blocks and ten aces.

Both teams are back in action on Saturday October 15^th. Bridgewater will host Westfield in a 12:00 pm MASCAC matchup. Wheaton will welcome Western New England and Eastern Connecticut State for an 11:00 AM/3:00 PM non-conference tri-match.