WESTFIELD, Mass. – The Westfield State Owls volleyball team defeated the Worcester State Lancers in four sets (25-23, 25-19, 24-26, 25-17) to open conference play in the Woodward Center on Wednesday, Sept. 14.

The Owls move to 1-0 in the MASCAC, 4-3 overall, while the Lancers slip to 0-1 in conference and 1-7 overall.

Ashley Crowley (Billerica, Mass./ Billerica) and Bridgette McAndrews (Longmeadow, Mass./ Longmeadow) paced the Owls with 15 and 10 kills respectively. Julia Dangel-Garcia (Ashland, Mass./ Ashland) dished out 27 assists and picked up 10 digs in the win.

Worcester State's Cassidy D'Esposito (Medford, Mass./ Patchogue Medford) connected for 10 kills in the setback and teammate Camryn Burgio (Quincy, Mass./ North Quincy) posted a game-high 22 digs.

The Owls took the first two sets and erased a seven- point deficit in the third before Worcester pulled away from the 24-24 deadlock by way of a service error and block. McAndrews landed a kill to break the 5-5 tie in the fourth and final set to give the Owls a lead they would not relinquish.

Westfield's defense was led by Allie Hill (St. Clair Shores, Mich./ Lakeview) and Shawna Crowley (Billerica, Mass./ Billerica) who each had 14 digs.

Angela Colonis (Waterford, Conn./ Waterford) registered double-digit assists (17) and digs (12) for the Lancers.

The Owls return to action tomorrow night traveling to Western New England for a 7:00 p.m. start while the Lancers continue with conference play on Saturday, Sept. 17 when they host Framingham State at noon.