Volleyball falls to Westfield State in MASCAC semi-finals

Courtesy of Westfield State Sports Information

WESTFIELD, Mass. – The Westfield State women's volleyball team defeated MCLA in straight sets (25-17, 25-21, 25-15) in the semifinals of the MASCAC tournament on Thursday, Nov. 3, punching their ticket to Saturday's championship match. The third seeded Trailblazers finish the season with a 16-8 overall mark and 5-2 in conference.

Julia Bartiet (Cheshire, Conn./ Cheshire) and Shawna Crowley (Billerica, Mass./ Billerica) each registered 10 kills to pace the Owls' offense. The duo also impressed defensively, Bartiet had two block assists and one solo, Crowley picked up 10 digs in the win.

MCLA was led by Anais Badio's (Las Vegas, Nev./ Community College HS West) match-high 11 kills and Shannon O'Brien's (Unionville, Conn./ Farmington Senior) 17 assists. Four Trailblazers picked up double-digit digs in the setback, Ellie Walter-Goodspeed (Auburn, Wash./ Auburn Riverside) had a game-high 22, Chloie Garber (Eagle River, Alaska/ Eagle River) grabbed 15, Elizabeth Brown (Lee, Mass./ Lee) had 12 and O'Brien finished with 10.

The Owls controlled play throughout the first set and held a 21-12 advantage in the second before the Trailblazers went on a 9-1 run to close the margin to one, 22-21. An attack error for MCLA and kills by Bridgette McAndrews (Longmeadow, Mass./ Longmeadow) and Sarah Bingham (Reno, Nev./ Wooster) sealed the second set win. MCLA took their only lead of the match early in the third set, 2-0, but a pair of Ashley Crowley (Billerica, Mass./ Billerica) kills gave the Owls a lead they would not relinquish.

Ashley Crowley finished with nine kills and a season-high 15 digs, Allie Hill (St. Clair Shores, Mich./ Lakeview) added 13 digs, the setting duo of Julia Dangel-Garcia (Ashland, Mass./ Ashland) and Morgan Dority (Walpole, Mass./ Walpole) connected on 16 and 15 assists respectively.

Westfield State will host fourth seeded Worcester State at noon on Saturday, Nov. 5 for the MASCAC championship. The Lancers upended top seeded Framingham State in five sets to earn their championship appearance. The winner will receive the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA national tournament.