Volleyball holds off Bridgewater 3-1, advances to MASCAC Semifinals at Worcester State on Thursday
North Adams, MA- The fourth seeded MCLA Volleyball jumped out to a commanding lead and then held off the hard charging Bridgewater State Bears in a 3-1 MASCAC Quarterfinal victory. The win for MCLA (12-11) advances them into the semifinal round where they'll face the top seed, the Worcester State Lancers, on Thursday night. Bridgewater State ends their season at 6-11.
MCLA started fast as they took the first two sets in convincing style. They were never threatened in a pair of 25-19 set victories to open up a 2-0 lead. The Bears would not go quietly however as they pushed on by taking the third set 25-20.
In the decisive fourth set, Bridgewater jumped out to a 12-8 lead before MCLA would rattle off four straight points to tie things up at 12-12. BSU regained a 15-12 advantage after two straight aces from Savannah Quintal, but MCLA once again had the answer. This time the Trailblazers used a 6-1 spurt to take an 18-16 lead. A block from Giselle Arredondo started the run and when Kelly Moczulski knocked down a kill, MCLA had the lead.
BSU refused to quit however and used their own 6-1 spurt to once again take the lead at 22-19. From there, MCLA rallied. They would outscore BSU 6-1 down the stretch to secure the win. With the score at 24-22 in favor of MCLA, Bridgewater took advantage of an attack error to get within a point at 24-23, but a Bears attack error would seal the victory for the Trailblazers and move them on to the semifinals.
MCLA was paced by Moczulski's game best 15 kills on 42 attacks (.214). She added 8 digs to her stat line. Reagan Scattergood would end the night with 13 kills and 13 digs to aid the offense. Reigning MASCAC Rookie of the Week Chloie Garber would collect 11 kills and 17 digs in the win.
Natasha Stewart had a memorable night as well. The senior tallied a match best 40 assists but also collected 16 digs. The digs moved her past 1,000 for her career and she is now a two time member of the "grand club" as earlier this season she collected her 1,000th assist.
Bridgewater State was paced by Gabryella Serrano's team best 11 kills. She added 15 digs in defeat. Alexandra VanderPol and Becca Whalen each ended with 10 kills apiece. Savannah Quintal led the Bears with 19 assists while Bethany Votta added 18.
Victoria Caiano led the defense with a match best 27 digs for the Bears.
MCLA is in search of their first tournament title in school history. The semifinal round is set for Thursday night at 7pm in Worcester.