Bracket

The Framingham State Rams volleyball team has earned the top seed in the 2016 Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference Volleyball Tournament which will start on Wednesday with the quarterfinals round.

The tournament begins Wednesday, November 2 with fourth seed Bridgewater State hosting fifth seed Worcester State at 6 pm followed by third seed MCLA entertaining sixth seed Salem State at 7 pm.

The winner of Bridgewater State/Worcester State with play top seed Framingham State Saturday, November 5 at 11 am with the winner of MCLA/Salem State will face second seed Westfield State at 1 pm. The two semifinal winners will then meet 30 minutes following the second semifinal to determine the MASCAC tournament champion.

Framingham State earned the one seed and a first round bye with a perfect 6-0 record during conference play. The 2015 MASCAC Player of the Year Alycia Rackliffe leads the conference in kills per set (4.66), total kills (485), total blocks (96), solo blocks (29), block assist (67) and blocks per set (0.92) while also finishing third in hitting percentage (.269). 

Earning the other first round bye and the second seed is Westfield State who finished the MASCAC schedule with a 5-1 record. Lizzie Taylor leads the conference at the end of regular season play with 512 digs while also finished with the second most digs per set with 5.02. She also tallied the third most service aces with 52 and fifth most aces per set at 0.51.

Third seed MCLA is next with a 4-2 record during league play. Allison Clark closed out the regular season action top in the MASCAC with a .289 hitting percentage, second in kills per set with 3.11 and third in total kills with 295. She also had the eighth most digs (295) and digs per set (3.11).

Sitting in the fourth spot is Bridgewater State who finished with a 3-3 clip during the conference regular season. Cassidy Tyros ended the regular season first in digs per set (5.21), second in total digs (500), while also netting 22 service aces and 22 assists.

Rounding out the tournament field in fifth and sixth are Worcester State and Salem State. The Lancers finished with two wins during the MASCAC season. Emily Carens closed out the regular season schedule fourth in total kills at 267, kills per set with 2.59 along with 20 block assists and a .186 hitting percentage. The Vikings tallied a win during conference play. Hannah Mullarkey had the fifth most digs per set (3.71) and 341 digs with 21 assists and 28 service aces.

During the 2015 MASCAC Tournament, Framingham State defeated MCLA 3-0 in the championship game to earn the conference's automatic bid.