Volleyball Extends Streak to Seven with 3-2 MASCAC Win Over Worcester State

By Jim Fenton

WORCESTER, Mass. -- The Bridgewater State University volleyball team used an impressive fifth set to win its seventh consecutive match on Wednesday night.

The Bears scored the first nine points of the final set, sending them on the way to a 3-2 victory over Worcester State University.

BSU (8-6) is now 3-0 in the Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference, tied for first place with Westfield State University. The teams will meet in Bridgewater on Oct. 26.

Worcester State (6-15) was handed its first conference loss and is 2-1.

The Bears prevailed over the Lancers, 25-16, 24-26, 25-21, 27-29 and 15-7. The win marked the BSU's first road victory over the Lancers since 2016.

BSU is riding its longest winning streak since putting together eight straight wins from Sept. 17-Oct. 2, 2015. It has not lost since dropping a non-conference decision to the University of New England on Sept. 14.

Graduate student Bethany Votta (Cumberland, R.I.) had 26 assists for the Bears, boosting her career total to 994. Votta is on the verge of becoming the 10th BSU player to reach 1,000 assists.

Sophomore Xin Ai Robinson (Evan Mills, N.Y.) had 24 assists and 10 digs for BSU while sophomore Ava Crane (Dartmouth, Mass.) added 21 digs.

Sophomore Lily Welch (Hanson, Mass.) added 13 digs and five block assists to go with a .407 hitting percentage while senior Kim Gowell (Durham, N.H.) had six digs and a .387 hitting percentage and freshman Charlotte Sullivan (Hyannis, Mass.) had a .476 hitting percentage.

In the fifth set, BSU jumped out to a 9-0 lead with sophomore Alexis Starks (Milford, Mass.) and Crane getting things going with a kill and an ace.

Starks, Sullivan and Welch also had kills in the run.

Worcester State took two timeouts before registering a point in the set. Welch and Gowell kills brought the lead to 11-2 and Sullivan finished the match with a kill.

In the first set, BSU went out to an 8-2 lead with two kills by Welch leading the way. Three kills by Gowell helped move the lead to 13-6.

Worcester State was no closer than six the rest of the set with Sullivan getting three kills.

The Lancers broke a 5-5 tie in the second set with three straight points and held a 15-10 lead over the Bears. Following a timeout, BSU rallied to tie it at 15 and there were three more ties before Worcester State scored the last two points.

BSU trailed, 15-10, in the third set before getting within 16-15, and after trailing, 18-15, scored five straight points.

The Bears led, 22-21, then scored three points in a row on kills by Welch and senior Abigail Reardon (Fairhaven, Mass.) and a block by Welch.

BSU had chances to wrap up the match in the fourth set after trailing, 19-16.

There were eight ties after that with the Bears having advantages at 24-23, 25-24, 26-25 and 27-26.

But the Lancers scored the final three points of the set with a kill by Kate Stedronsky (Sea Girt, N.J.) finishing sending the match to a fifth set.

Senior Megan Bardis (Sterling, Mass.) had 22 assists and six digs for Worcester State while senior Angela Colonis (Waterford, Conn.) added 19 assists and seven digs.

BSU had a 62-46 edge in kills and a 57-47 advantage in assists.

The Bears will play again on Tuesday night at 6 p.m., hosting Fitchburg State at the Tinsley Center.

The Lancers travel to Westfield State for a 7 p.m. game on Tuesday.