Volleyball Bracket

WESTFIELD, Mass. -- The Westfield State Owls have clinched the top seed in the Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference volleyball tournament after going a perfect 6-0 in conference play. The tournament begins Wednesday, November 6 with the quarterfinals and concludes on Saturday, November 9 with the semifinals and championship hosted by Westfield State.

The Owls and runner-up Framingham State Rams earn a first round bye after their weekend match up to decide the regular season champion. First up on Wednesday are the quarterfinals to decide who will play the Owls and Rams on Saturday. Up first is sixth-seeded MCLA at third-seeded Bridgewater State at 6 p.m. on Wednesday. The winner plays Framingham State in the semifinals at 1 p.m. on Saturday. The other quarterfinal match-up is fifth-seeded Salem State at fourth-seeded Worcester State at 7 p.m. Winner plays Westfield State in the other 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 champion earns an automatic berth into the NCAA tournament.

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 winners last season, were dominate for the Owls with 311 and 303 kills, respectively and an average of 3.27 and 3.19 kills per set. 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 taking the crown back from the Rams.

Framingham State recorded 25 victories and a 5-1 MASCAC record this season after claiming it all last season. Freshman outside hitter Alycia Rackliffe 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 completed the regular season with 233 kills while teammate and last year’s MASCAC Rookie of the Year Danielle Girard 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 their first volleyball conference championship and a trip to the NCAA tournament.