Volleyball Bracket

After going 7-0 in conference play, Worcester State has nabbed the top spot in the 2021 MASCAC Volleyball Tournament which begins with the quarterfinal round on Tuesday.

The volleyball tournament kicks off on Tuesday, November 2 with the quarterfinals. Up first, #4 MCLA hosts #5 Bridgewater State at 6 pm then at 7, #3 Framingham State will face #6 Salem State. The winner of Framingham/Salem will meet #2 Westfield State on Thursday, November 4 at 6 pm in the semifinals while #1 Worcester State will play the winner of MCLA/Bridgewater at 7 pm.

On Saturday, November 6, the two semifinal winners will face off for the MASCAC Tournament title at the highest remaining seed. Winner will punch their ticket to the NCAA Tournament with the league's automatic bid.

Earning the top seed, Worcester State earns a first round bye in this week's tournament. The Lancers closed out the MASCAC schedule with a perfect mark of 7-0 to win this year's MASCAC Regular Season title. Outside Hitter Natalie Gillis finished the regular season with 231 kills, 275 digs, 17 blocks, 21 aces and 16 assists to help the Lancers to the best record in the conference.

Getting the other first round bye is Westfield State with the second seed. The Owls were 6-1 in conference competition. Defensive Specialist/Libero Jess Haradon led the league in digs with 427, averaging 4.59 per set while adding 39 assists and 31 service aces. 

Hosting a quarterfinal contest with the third seed is Framingham State. The Rams finished the MASCAC slate with a 5-2 mark. 2019 MASCAC Player of the Year Brandee Thomas ended the regular season in the top five of several categories, including kills (273), kills per set (2.55), digs (351) with 37 aces and 31 assists this season. 

In the other quarterfinal, MCLA gets a chance to host as the fourth seed. The Trailblazers were 4-3 at the end of the league season. In her first year with the Trailblazers, Chloie Garber leads the conference in kills with 312 and kills per set with 3.59. She also collected 224 digs, 33 aces and 26 total blocks.

Finishing out this year's tournament field are Bridgewater State and Salem State in the fifth and sixth seed, respectively. The Bears had three wins in conference play. Leading the way for the Bears is Sydney Rice. Rice ended the regular season with 115 kills, a league-leading .308 hitting percentage, 49 digs, 28 total blocks and 36 aces. For the Vikings, Eva Haralabatos in her first year with the team registered 411 digs, 184 assists and 43 aces. 

During the 2019 MASCAC Volleyball Tournament, top seed Westfield State defeated two seed Framingham State, 3-1 to earn a spot in the NCAA Tournament.