Volleyball Looks to Defend MASCAC Tournament Title as the Second Seed
Westfield, Mass. - The Westfield State University Owls clinched the top seed in the Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) Volleyball Championships after defeating the defending champion Framingham State University Rams on Saturday to go a perfect 6-0 in conference play. The Rams will be the second seed after seeing the Owls snap their 11-game conference winning streak.
The tournament begins Wednesday, November 6th with the quarterfinals and concludes on Saturday, November 9th with the semifinals and championship hosted by top seed Westfield State.
The Owls and Framingham State earn first round byes after their weekend match up decided the regular season champion. Sixth-seeded MCLA travels to third-seeded Bridgewater State University at 6 p.m. on Wednesday in one quarterfinal with the winner meeting the Rams in the second semifinal on Saturday at 1 p.m. The other quarterfinal match-up on Wednesday is fifth-seeded Salem State University at fourth-seeded Worcester State University at 7 p.m. The winner plays Westfield State in the first semifinal at 11 a.m. on Saturday. The winner of the two semifinal matches will play for the 2013 MASCAC Championship approximately 30 minutes following the second semifinal. The MASCAC Tournament Champion receives the conference's automatic bid to the 2013 NCAA Volleyball Championship.
Westfield State finished the regular season with a 17 wins and a perfect 6-0 in the MASCAC. The senior duo of Lindsay Rescott and Julia Warner, who were All-Conference selections last season, were dominate for the Owls with 311 and 303 kills, respectively. Junior Carolyn Cote had 857 assists on the season for an average of 8.16 per set. This is the fourth regular season title for the Owls in the past five years.
Framingham State recorded a school record 25 victories and a 5-1 MASCAC record this season after winning it all last season. Freshman outside hitter Alycia Rackliffe (Feeding Hills, Mass.) has made her mark for the Rams this season with a conference-best 353 kills, 3.33 average per set and a hitting percentage of .338. Reigning MASCAC Player of the Year Andressa Fernandes (Framingham, Mass.) completed the regular season with 233 kills, while teammate and last year's MASCAC Rookie of the Year Danielle Girard (Tivoli, NY) finished with 197 kills and 60 service aces.
Bridgewater State closed out their regular season with 15 wins and a 4-2 mark in the MASCAC. Libero Kristen Robillard, a 2013 All-Conference team honoree, had 457 digs for the Bears. Freshman outside hitter Hannah Maymon led the Bears with 269 kills. Worcester State nabbed eight regular season wins and a 3-3 record in conference. Junior Alyssa Jasper was a force for the Lancers with 330 kills on the year. Salem State had five victories and went 2-4 in the MASCAC. Freshman Emily Peay collected 165 kills and 99 kills for the Vikings this season. Rounding out the list is MCLA with 10 regular season wins and a 1-5 mark in the MASCAC. Senior Julia Christian led the Trailblazers with 145 kills and 88 digs to close out the regular season.
During the 2012 championship, Framingham State swept Bridgewater State 3-0 to earn the volleyball conference championship and a trip to the NCAA tournament.