Volleyball Punches Ticket to MASCAC Championship Game with Four Set Win at Worcester State

WORCESTER, Mass.— The #3 seed MCLA Volleyball team avenged their regular season finale loss at Worcester State last week with a four-set semifinal win tonight to advance the MASCAC Championship game this Saturday when they will host #4 seed Framingham State for the league title and an automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament.

THE BASICS:

• Date: Thursday, November 9, 2023

• Score: MCLA 3, Worcester State 1 (25-16, 25-18, 20-25, 25-21)
• Records: MCLA Trailblazers 21-4 (MASCAC 5-2) | Worcester State 13-15 (MASCAC 6-1)

HOW IT HAPPENED:

• Tied at 5-5 in the first set MCLA would mount a 7-1 run capped off by an Elizabeth Brown kill to make it 12-6. The Trailblazers doubled up the Lancers at 22-11 after a Chloie Garber service ace and another Brown kill would give the visitors a 25-16 set win.
• Following a side-out which tied the score at 3-3, an 11-point Ellie Walter-Goodspeed service run blew the second set wide open putting Worcester State in a position that they could not recover from. An Anais Badio kill made it 25-18 giving MCLA a commanding 2-0 lead.
• The #2 seed Lancers bounced back in the third using a 4-point run go up 14-10 forcing a Trailblazer timeout. MCLA would close the gap to 15-13 but get no closer as the hosts got on the board taking the set 25-20.  
• Neither team led by more than two points in the fourth until tied at 20-20, a four-point Beth Harris service run gave the Trailblazers four match points. Worcester fought off the first attempt, but another Garber kill ended the set 25-21, the match 3-1 and put MCLA in Saturday's Championship match.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS:

• The Trailblazers offensive featured a balanced attack with Audrey Melson leading the way with 13 kills and a .500 hitting percentage. Garber added 13 kills along with 16 digs for the double-double, while Badio finished with 12.
• Harris added a double-double of her own with a match-high 21 assists and ten digs. Walter-Goodspeed matched Garber's team-high 16 digs while Brown added ten.
• Shannon O'Brien finished with 15 assists including her 1,000^th career helper in the first set.
• It has been eight years since MCLA's last championship game appearance in 2015 when they also hosted Framingham State.

UP NEXT:

MCLA will next host Framingham State Saturday afternoon at 3:30pm in the Amsler Campus Center Gymnasium with the 2023 the MASCAC Volleyball Championship on the line.

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