Volleyball rolls past Bridgewater State, clinches home play-off match

North Adams, MA- The MCLA Volleyball team made short work of visiting Bridgewater State this afternoon at the Amsler Campus Center, sweeping the Bears 25-18, 25-19, 25-10. With the win the Trailblazers improve to 15-7 (5-2 MASCAC) and secure the #3 seed in next week's MASCAC tournament. Bridgewater State fall to 9-10 (3-4 MASCAC) and will enter postseason play as the # 5 seed.

MCLA would jump out to a 12-6 lead in the first set forcing a Bridgewater State timeout, but the Trailblazers kept the momentum and would lead by as many as nine points on their way to a 25-18 set win.

The second set was almost identical with the Bears taking their timeout at 12-7 and MCLA pushing forward to extend their lead to ten at 21-11. An 8-2 Bridgewater State run would close the gap to four at 23-19, but a Chloie Garber (Eagle River, AK) ace at set point would give the Trailblazers a 25-19 set victory and a 2-0 set advantage in the match.

After a Rachel Sebastian-Asbed (St. Louis, MO) kill drew the Bears to within one at 8-9 in the third set, MCLA would reel off an impressive 16-2 run taking the set 25-10 to complete the sweep.

Becca Whalen (Plymouth, MA) with 6 kills, Victoria Caiano (Acushnet, MA) with 11 digs, and Savannah Quintal (Assonet, MA) with 14 assists, would lead the way for the Bears.

For home team it was Chloie Garber with 11 kills and 9 digs, Ellie Walter-Goodspeed (Auburn, WA) with 15 digs and Shannon O'Brien (Unionville, CT) with 28 assists leading the Trailblazers to victory.

Both teams will be in action next Tuesday's in the first-round of the 2022 MASCAC Volleyball tournament as Bridgewater State will travel to #4 seed Worcester State and MCLA will host #6 seed Fitchburg State.