Volleyball Posts 3-1 Senior Night Win Over Mitchell

By Jim Fenton

BRIDGEWATER, Mass. -- The Bridgewater State University volleyball team wrapped up the home portion of the regular-season schedule with a victory on Senior Night.

The Bears scored a 3-1 non-conference win over Mitchell College at the Tinsley Center on Thursday night.

BSU improved to 14-4, the most wins it has had since compiling 18 victories in 2014. The Bears are 8-1 at home.

Mitchell (11-14) won the opening set, but BSU rallied to take the next three sets.

After losing, 25-22, the Bears put together wins by scores of 25-11, 25-19 and 25-21 to up their non-conference record to 7-4.

Junior Lily Welch (Hanson, Mass.) had 19 digs, 13 kills and a .357 hitting percentage for BSU. Welch also added a pair of aces and four assisted blocks.

Junior Ava Crane (Dartmouth, Mass.) added 12 digs, eight kills and had a .368 hitting percentage to go along with four aces while senior Kim Gowell (Durham, N.H.) chipped in with 11 kills and had a .308 hitting percentage.

Sophomore Charlotte Sullivan (Hyannis, Mass.) had eight kills, three digs and had a .538 hitting percentage as well as four assisted blocks.

Junior Xin Ai Robinson (Kaiserslautern, Germany) had a team-best 19 assists with a pair of aces and eight digs  and sophomore Natalie Fredriksen (Plymouth, Mass.) added 17 assists to go with eight digs and two aces.

Mitchell sophomore Molly Wordell (East Haddam, Conn.) had 20 kills while freshman Cimber Jenkins (New Smyrna Beach, Fla.) added 10 digs and nine kills.

Junior Kiersten Veenstra (Three Rivers, Mich.) had 10 digs for the Mariners and senior Julia Lent (Miller Place, N.Y.) had 19 assists and a match-best 23 digs.

The Bears held a 51-40 edge in kills, 46-37 in assists, 71-60 in digs and .226-.095 in hitting percentage.

BSU jumped to a 3-0 lead in the opening set, getting two kills from Crane, and after trailing, 5-4, took a 10-7 lead after kills by Gowell and Sullivan.

Mitchell tied it at 10-10, getting kills from Jenkins and senior Ali Ortiz (Groton, Conn.).

That was one of six ties before an ace from senior Jenna Blakenship (Virden, Ill.) put the Mariners in front, 18-16.

After four more ties, Mitchell went in front and led, 24-21, on a Veenstra ace. An attack error ended the set and gave the Mariners a 1-0 lead.

BSU raced to a 7-0 lead in the second set thanks to five attack errors, a kill by senior Meaghan Coutu (Brookline, N.H.) and a Robinson ace.

The lead went to 11-1 as Crane had an ace and Welch added a kill and it was 14-3 after an ace by Sullivan, a service error and attack error.

Mitchell was within 14-6, but two kills by Welch and one by Gowell opened the lead to 19-6. The Bears were up by as many as 16 and finished the set with a Sullivan kill.

Mitchell led, 4-2, to start the third set but two kills by Welch and one by Gowell put the Bears in front, 7-4.

After three ties, BSU went ahead, 16-12, with Gowell getting a kill to go with a service error and attack error.

The Mariners got within 17-16, but two Gowell kills and one each by Sullivan and Crane helped push the advantage to 21-17.

After an Ortiz kill moved Mitchell within 22-19, BSU scored the next three points, including a kill by Welch and a Crane ace to win the set.

The Bears took a 6-0 lead to begin the fourth set as there were five attack errors and a Sullivan kill.

Mitchell got back within 8-7, but two kills by Gowell and one by senior Alexis Starks (Milford, Mass.) made it 11-7.

The Mariners cut a five-point deficit to 21-19 and then 22-21 on kills by Wordell and freshman Miranda Hamilton (Colorado Spring, Col.).

Following a BSU timeout, a service error and attack error put the Bears within a point of victory, and Welch delivered a kill to end the match.

BSU finishes the regular season on Saturday at 11 a.m. on the road against Fitchburg State University.

The Bears enter the final day of the MASCAC season in first place at 7-0. They have clinched a share of the title and the No. 1 seed and will win the championship outright with a win or a loss by Westfield State (6-1).

BSU has an opening-round bye in the conference tourney next week and will begin in the semifinal round on Thursday night.

Prior to the win over Mitchell, the threeBSU seniors were honored on Senior Night. They include Gowell, Starks and Coutu.