WESTFIELD STATE CLAIMS FIRST REGULAR
SEASON MASCAC TITLE IN 20 YEARS
The Owls snap Bridgewater State's 114-match MASCAC
winning streak dating back to 1994
BRIDGEWATER, MA, Oct. 23, 2007 - The
Bridgewater State College volleyball team saw its 12-year reign as
MASCAC champions come to an end this evening, Oct. 23, as the Bears
dropped a 3-0 (32-30, 30-22, 30-20) decision to the Owls of
Westfield State College.
With the victory, Westfield captured its first MASCAC regular
season title in 20 years and will host the conference postseason
tournament on Saturday, Nov. 3. Bridgewater had won 12 straight
MASCAC titles beginning in 1995. The Bears also saw their 114-match
winning streak versus conference opponents come to an end. BSC had
not lost to a MASCAC team since the 1994 season.
"It was very gratifying," said Westfield State coach Fred
Glanville. "We played well and responded well to the
pressure. We got a little rattled at the beginning then started to
play hard again."
Westfield led the first game by as many as 13 points before Bridgewater came storming back to take its only lead the entire match. The Owls regrouped, however, to pull out the key 32-30 first-game victory. Westfield also jumped out to double digit leads in the second and third games but Bridgewater had no answers.
"We had a balanced attack and our defenders really picked up
everybody," said Glanville. "And we have more hitters this
year."
Westfield, 13-12 overall, 5-0 conference, was led by
senior libero Krista Grifoni (Peabody, MA) who
recorded a match-high 35 digs. Senior outside hitter Morgan
Hosking (North Reading, MA) tallied 11 kills to go along
with 3 aces, while senior setter Elissa Genereux
(Belchertown, MA) registered a match-high 27 assists.
"Morgan was hitting bombs," said Glanville. "And Krista and Elissa
controlled the tempo. These are the three seniors on our team and
their leadership and experience really showed tonight."
Sophomore standout Stephanie Bartkus, who was
sidelined this past weekend with an injury, also played well with
eight kills, 19 digs, and three blocks. Sophomore Alyssa Thibodeau
had five kills and two blocks.
Senior middle hitter Kelsey Collasius (Rochester,
MA) paced the Bears with 17 kills to increase her
MASCAC-leading total to 412. Collasius now has 1,615 kills for her
career as she is just the second player in BSC volleyball history
to eclipse the 1,600-kill barrier.
Also highlighting the match for Bridgewater were senior setter
Erica Kelley (Billerica, MA) and junior
Elsa Apostoli (Natick, MA) who combined for 31
assists. BSC really struggled on serve as the Bears committed 14
serving errors in the match.
The Bears will host the BSC Halloween Classic on Friday and
Saturday. Westfield travels to Western Connecticut state University
on Thursday night for a 7 o'clock match with the Colonials.
