Volleyball Drops 3-1 MASCAC Decision to MCLA

BRIDGEWATER, Mass. -- The visiting MCLA volleyball team posted a 3-1 Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) victory over Bridgewater State University on Wednesday night at the Tinsley Center.

The Trailblazers improve to 16-3 on the season with their eighth straight win as well as 5-1 in the MASCAC. The Bears fall to 3-12 overall and 1-5 in conference play. MCLA has won each of the last four meetings of the two teams while Bridgewater holds a 22-8 lead in the all-time series (12-3 at home).

MCLA used a 7-0 run to turn a two-point deficit into a 13-8 lead in the opening set and pulled away for the 25-15 win. Sophomore outside hitters Audrey Melson (Champlin, Minn.) and Elizabeth Brown (Lee, Mass.) notched four kills apiece in the opener while junior right side Chloie Garber (Eagle River, Alaska) and sophomore middle hitter Anais Badio (Las Vegas, Nev.) each tallied two aces.

The second set featured 15 ties with neither team leading by more than three points. A service ace by Garber gave the Trailblazers a 24-23 before back-to-back MCLA attacking errors put the Bears on top, 25-24. Bridgewater then captured the set and evened the match at 1-1 with a double block by senior setter Bethany Votta (Cumberland, R.I.) and junior right side Rachel Sebastian-Asbed (St. Louis, Mo.).

Set three was also closely contested as it featured eight ties. Bridgewater led 22-2 following a kill by freshman middle hitter Lily Welch (Hanson, Mass.). The Bears, however, would not score again as the Trailblazers reeled off five straight points to take the set, 25-22, as well as a 2-1 lead in the match. Junior libero Ellie Walter-Goodspeed (Auburn, Wash.) recorded an ace during the 5-0 run while Garber and Melson capped it off with back-to-back kills.

MCLA scored 11 of the first 12 points of the fourth set and got up by as many as 16 (22-6) as the Trailblazers coasted to the 25-10 win to secure the match. MCLA recorded 13 kills in the set including four by Badio and three from Brown.

MCLA tallied 49 kills on the evening and recorded a .175 hitting percentage to go along with 14 aces and just six serving errors.

Brown paced the Trailblazers with 14 kills, 21 digs, one ace and two assisted blocks while Melson checked in with 11 kills. MCLA also received nine kills, 23 digs, four assists and three aces from Garber as well as eight kills, seven assists, six digs, two aces and an assisted block from Badio. Sophomore setter Shannon O'Brien (Unionville, Conn.) contributed 18 assists and a pair of kills while Goodspeed added 23 digs, three assists and five aces.

Bridgewater finished with 34 kills and a .060 hitting percentage with nine aces and nine serving errors. The Bears also notched five blocks.

Sophomore right side Meaghan Coutu (Brookline, N.H.) led the way for the Bears with 13 kills, 14 digs and two aces while Welch notched seven kills, six digs, one ace and three assist blocks. Votta handed out 25 assists to go along with three aces, nine digs, a kill and two assisted blocks. Freshman libero Lilly Misay (New Bedford, Mass.) added 18 digs, two aces and a kill.

The Bears travel to the University of Southern Maine on Saturday afternoon for a tri-match. Bridgewater will take on Western Connecticut State University at two o'clock and the host Huskies at four. The Trailblazers head to the University of Saint Joseph on Saturday for a tri-match starting at 1:00 PM. MCLA will take on Saint Joseph's College of Maine at one and the host Blue Jays at three o'clock.