Bridgewater State/MCLA Box Score

Worcester State/Salem State Box Score

BRIDGEWATER & WORCESTER, Mass. -- The Bridgewater State Bears and the Worcester State Lancers volleyball teams are moving on after winning their respective quarterfinal matches in the Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference tournament on Wednesday night.

Leading the evening off were the third-seeded Bears who took on the visiting sixth-seeded Trailblazers of MCLA. Getting off to a quick start. Bridgewater State went on a early run in the first set and never looked back. They would win the match in straight sets 25-13, 25-14 and 25-16.

Sydney Bennett led the way for the Bears with nine kills and three digs while teammate Melanie Appleman registered 30 assists on the night along with three service aces. All-Conference member Julia Christian and Sam Anderson both paced the Trailblazers with five kills apiece.

With the win tonight, Bridgewater State earned a match-up with the second-seeded Framingham State Rams on Saturday at 1 p.m. on the campus of Westfield State. When the two squads met earlier in the season, the Rams came out on top 3-1.

In the night cap, the fourth-seeded Lancers faced off with the fifth-seeded Salem State Vikings. Coming out strong to start the match, Worcester State took the first set easily before Salem State began to fight back. 

Using a run to get the score close in the second set, the Vikings attempted a comeback but were cut short  by the Lancers to give themselves a two set advantage, 25-19. It was a seesaw battle in the third set which eventually saw Worcester State winning it all and punching their ticket for the semifinals by a score of 25-23.

Recently named All-Conference honorees Alyssa Jasper and Megan Brown led the way for the Lancers with 12 and 10 kills respectively. Jerika Santiago finished with seven kills and two block assists for the Vikings.

Worcester State will take on the top seed Westfield State on Saturday in the first semifinal at 11 a.m in Westfield, Mass. Earlier this season, the Owls got the best of the Lancers in straight sets, 3-0.