After winning their semifinal matches on Thursday night, Framingham State and Westfield State will meet on Saturday, November 9 in the MASCAC Volleyball Championship.

#1 Westfield State 3, #4 MCLA 0          Box Score

WESTFIELD, Mass. – Senior hitter Brianna Starkey (Rockland, Mass.) pounded 12 kills to lead Westfield State, as the top seeded Owls defeated #4 MCLA 25-14, 25-13, 25-14 in the semifinals of the Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference semifinals at the Woodward Center on Thursday night.

With the win, the Owls will host Saturday's championship match at 5:00 p.m.

The Owls seized control from the opening point, sprinting out of the blocks to a 10-3 lead in the first game on a Starkey kill.

The Blazers offered more resistance in the second game.  After Westfield jumped to a 5-1 lead behind three kills from the Crowley sisters, MCLA answered with seven straight points of their own being a pair of kills apiece for Kelly Moczulski (New River, Az.) and Regan Scattergood (Rhinebeck, N.Y.).

Westfield tied the set at 10-10 on a Starkey kill, and used a 10-0 run in the middle of the set to build a decisive 18-10 lead.

In the third set, the teams were tied 4-4 early, but the Owls gradually pulled away with a balanced team effort, capping the match with a service ace from senior Lizzie Taylor (Medfield, Mass.).

Sophomore Shawna Crowley (Billerica, Mass.) added nine kills for the Owls, wih sister Ashley Crowley (Billerica, Mass.) and Hanna Simpkins (Walpole, N.H./Fall Mountain Reg) each adding six kills.

Senior setter Ally Rega (Chelmsford, Mass.) finished with 29 assists and seven digs, while senior libero Taylor led the Owls with 22 digs.

Westfield hit .233 for the match with 41 kills, while MCLA hit .000 leveling 21 kills with 21 attack errors.

Westfield is now 13-16 overall on the season, but the Owls ran the table against the MASCAC with a 7-0 record in league play in the regular season.  

Freshman Moczulski led MCLA with eight kills, while Scattergood added seven.  Houa Xiong (Fresno, Calif.) led the back row with 14 digs.  The Trailblazers season ends with a 19-11 overall record and a 4-3 mark in the MASCAC.

#2 Framingham State 0, #3 Bridgewater State 0        Box Score

Framingham, Mass. - The second seeded Framingham State University volleyball team defeated third seed Bridgewater State University 3-0 in one semifinal of the 2019 Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) Tournament at the Athletic Center this evening to advance to the finals on Saturday.

With the victory, the Rams advance to the finals of the 2019 MASCAC Volleyball Tournament and will face top seed Westfield State on Saturday at 5 p.m. in Westfield. The winner of the tournament final receives the MASCAC's automatic bid to the 2019 NCAA Volleyball Tournament.

The Rams were paced by 13 kills and 14 digs from sophomore Brandee Thomas (North Kingstown, RI).  Thomas hit .122 in the match and added an assist, a pair of blocks and an ace.

Sophomore Payton Hodsdon (Somersworth, N.H.) also recorded double digit kills with 11 in the match.  Hodsdon tallied her 11 kills on 28 attempts with just four errors for a .250 attack percentage.

The Bears were led on the attack by seven kills apiece from juniors Gabryella Serrano (Bridgewater, Mass.) and Sydney Rice (Medway, Mass.). Serrano added 11 digs in the match, while Rice recorded seven blocks including five solo.

The Rams back row play was paced by 18 digs from sophomore Alyssa Cafarelli (Peoria, AZ), while junior Morgan Failla (Providence, RI) added 10 digs and 28 set assists.

The Bears defense was led by 14 digs from freshman Victoria Caiano (New Bedford, Mass.), while junior Casey Holmes (Norton, Mass.) added 11 and 22 assists.

The Rams took the lead early in the opening set 9-3, but the Bears rallied and pulled within three, 10-7.  The Rams countered with a spurt of their own capped by a kill from junior Brandey Rodriguez (Lawrence, Mass.) to extend the lead to 17-9.  Bridgewater cut the gap to four, 23-19, on a Ram error but a kill from freshman Hailey Sanders (Franklin, Mass.) secured the frame for the hosts.

In the second, the Bears took the lead right away and pulled ahead 7-2. The Rams closed the gap to 9-7, but the Bears pushed the lead back to three. The Rams tied the set at 14-14 on an ace from Thomas, but Bears scored four straight taking an 18-14 lead.  The Rams tied the game at 18-all on an ace from Rodriguez and took their first lead of the frame (19-18) on Bears hitting error. The Rams never trailed again securing the 2-0 lead.

The Rams took a 5-0 lead in the third and never looked back. The Bears cut the gap to one, 7-6, but the Rams pushed the lead to 17-10 before taking the set 25-18.

Releases courtesy of Framingham State and Westfield State Sports Information