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.