Balanced Attack Leads Volleyball Past Bridgewater State

Framingham, Mass. – The Framingham State University volleyball received eight kills and 12 digs from sophomore Julia Wan (South Deerfield, Mass.) as the Rams defeated Bridgewater State University 3-0 this evening in Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) action at the Athletic Center. 

The Rams are now 17-8 on the year and remain unbeaten in the conference at 4-0.  The Rams face the only other remaining undefeated team in the MASCAC in Worcester State on Saturday afternoon in Worcester.  The Bears are now 14-13 on the year and 2-2 in the MASCAC.

The Rams jumped out to a 7-1 lead in the opening set and pushed the advantage to 14-6. The Bears would not go away quietly as they capitalized on Ram hitting errors to pull within four (22-18), but the Rams were able to take the set 25-22. In the second, the Rams once again jumped out to a 7-1 advantage and were able to pull away taking the game 25-13.

The third set was closely contests with Bridgewater State taking their first lead of the day, 5-4, on a kill from freshman Christina Jaros (Plymouth, Mass.).  The Rams came back tying the score at 8-8 and after trading points the game was tied at 14-all.  A block and a pair of aces from sophomore Alycia Rackliffe (Feeding Hills, Mass.) put the Rams on top for good as they closed the match 25-16.

Wan, Rackliffe and junior Annie DeLoid (Plymouth, Mass.) led the Rams with eight kills apiece. DeLoid tallied her eight kills on 15 attempts with no errors, while Rackliffe filled the stat sheet with four aces, five digs and eight blocks.  Senior Courtney Wilbur (Braintree, Mass.) and junior Danielle Girard (Tivoli, NY) chipped in with 14 and 12 digs respectively.

The Bears were led offensively by Jaros who picked up a team-best eight kills on 24 attempts.  Senior Sarah Mullarkey (Salem, Mass.) chipped in with a match-best 21 assists, while the back row was led by senior Lisa Vega (Milford, Mass.) with 11 digs.

The Rams are back in action on Saturday with when they travel to WPI to face Worcester State in a MASCAC contest at 11 a.m. and the Engineers at 1 p.m. in a non-conference match, while Bridgewater State travels to Wheaton on Saturday to face the Lyons and Western Connecticut in a non-conference tri-match beginning at 2 p.m.