By Jim Fenton

BRIDGEWATER, Mass. -- The Bridgewater State University volleyball team ended the 2024 season with its first appearance in the NCAA Division III tournament in 16 years.

The Bears began the 2025 season determined to keep the winning ways going after getting a taste of the national tourney in which they lost to Johns Hopkins, 3-0.

"Coming off last year, they really believed in themselves," said BSU coach Tony daSilveira. "They said after that game, 'We need to do this and this.' They set a bunch of goals and targets they wanted to hit personally and as a team.

"They were in the gym multiple times all spring and summer, doing team bonding, lifts. If you talk to them, there was never a doubt in their minds that they were going to be the No. 1 team at the end of the regular season.

And that's exactly what happened as the Bears (15-4 overall) went 8-0 in the Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference to clinch their first outright title since 2006. BSU shared the 2008 championship with Westfield State University.

As a result, the Bears are the No. 1 seed for the first time in 19 years and will host a semifinal-round match Thursday at the Tinsley Center against fifth-seeded Worcester State University at 6 p.m.

BSU won the MASCAC tournament a year ago as the No. 2 seed, rallying to beat Westfield State, 3-2.

The Bears are 14-1 in their last 15 regular-season conference games dating back to last year to go with a pair of wins in last year's tournament.

The 15 wins this season are the most since 2014 when BSU went 18-19 and BSU will have back-to-back winning seasons for the first time since 2005-06.

"The things they keep doing with the win streaks, doing things that hadn't happened in 19 years, and all this and that, they've surpassed what we thought," said daSilveira. "I just wanted them to come out and get better every single day and see where it takes us."

It has taken the Bears within two wins of a second straight trip to the NCAAs.

BSU has a balanced team, receiving contributions up and down the lineup, just like a season ago.

Junior captain Lily Welch (Hanson, Mass.) is first on the team with 233 digs and 198 kills and is second with 36 blocks and a .296 hitting percentage.

She ranks second in the conference in kills per set and hitting percentage.

Sophomore Charlotte Sullivan (Hyannis, Mass.) leads the team with 47 blocks and a MASCAC-leading .313 hitting percentage and is second with 44 aces.

Junior Ava Crane (Dartmouth, Mass.) is first with 221 digs and second with 152 kills and has a hitting percentage of .236. Crane is second in the MASCAC in aces per set.

Leading in assists are junior Xin Ai Robinson (Kaiserslautern, Germany) with 362 to go with 110 digs, and sophomore Natalie Fredriksen (Plymouth, Mass.) with 222 plus 33 aces.

Other key contributors include senior captain Meaghan Coutu (Brookline, N.H.) with 115 kills, 26 blocks and a .217 hitting percentage, senior Kim Gowell (Durham, N.H.) with 144 kills (third on the team) and a .238 hitting percentage and junior Moriah Baptista (Dartmouth, Mass.) with 127 digs (third on the team) and a .267 hitting percentage.

"We spread the ball everywhere," said daSilveira, whose team is on a five-match winning streak. "We have weapons and tools. We've got a little bit of everything at every spot.

"I feel very confident with this team. They are working hard. They trust each other. They're playing great at practice. As long as they can keep that going and what we've been doing, I'll feel great."

The semifinal-round opponent, Worcester State, defeated the fourth-seeded Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts, 3-0, in the quarterfinal round on Tuesday night.

BSU defeated the Lancers, 3-0, on Oct. 25, winning by scores of 25-13, 25-16, and 25-23. Worcester State is 10-20 and went 4-4 in the MASCAC.

The winner of the Bears-Lancers match plays for the conference title and a trip to the NCAAs on Saturday.

The opponent will be either second-seeded Westfield State 15-10) or third-seeded Framingham State (17-12).