Volleyball Earns Top Seed in MASCAC Tournament
Westfield, Mass. – The Framingham State University Rams have claimed the top spot in the 2014 Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) Volleyball Championship Tournament after capturing the 2014 MASCAC Regular Season Title.
The tournament begins with a pair of quarterfinal matches on Wednesday, November 5th. Fourth-seed Bridgewater State University hosts fifth-seed MCLA at 6 p.m. in one quarterfinal, while third-seed Westfield State University hosts sixth-seed Salem State University at 7 p.m. in the other.
The semifinals and finals will be played in Framingham on Saturday, November 8th. The winner of the Bridgewater State/MCLA quarterfinal will advance and play top-seed Framingham State on at 11 a.m., while the winner of the Westfield State/Salem State quarterfinal faces off against second-seed Worcester State at 1 p.m. The winners of the two semifinals will face off for the MASCAC Title Saturday afternoon 30 minutes after the conclusion of the second semifinal. The winner of the MASCAC Title receives the conference's automatic bid to the 2014 NCAA Division III Volleyball Championships.
The Rams took home the top seed with a perfect 6-0 conference record and a 21-11 overall mark. Reigning MASCAC Rookie of the Year, sophomore Alycia Rackliffe (Feeding Hills, Mass.) led the Rams with 340 kills, 44 blocks and a .297 hitting percentage. Classmate Julia Wan (South Deerfield, Mass.) was followed close behind with 254 kills and a .238 hitting percentage.
Landing the second seed was Worcester State who finished the season 5-1 in league play. Alyssa Jasper led the Lancers with a conference-best 443 kills for a 4.39 kills per set average. Amanda Lewis closed out the season with 856 assists while adding 225 digs.
Westfield State is the third seed in the tournament after a 4-2 compiling a 4-2 conference mark. Freshman Victoria Sutphen tallied 218 kills and 127 digs, while fellow first year Courtney Ryan added 434 assists and 155 digs.
Bridgewater State earned the fourth seed after netting three MASCAC wins this season. Rounding out the tournament field is MCLA and Salem State in fifth and sixth, respectively.
Last season Westfield State claimed the 2013 MASCAC Volleyball Championship crown with a 3-0 title game win over Framingham State.
Portions of release courtesy of MASCAC Media Relations.