By Jim Fenton

BRIDGEWATER, Mass. -- The Bridgewater State University volleyball team dropped a pair of non-conference matches Saturday afternoon.

The Bears were defeated by Salve Regina University, 3-1, and the University of New England, 3-0, at the Tinsley Center.

BSU (1-6) has dropped six matches in a row since opening the season with a 3-0 win over Anna Maria.

The Bears will host Nichols College on Wednesday at 6 p.m.

Salve Regina 3, Bridgewater State 1

The Seahawks (1-5) took the first two sets, 25-16 and 28-26, before the Bears stayed alive with a 25-20 victory. Salve Regina then closed out the win, 25-15.

Sophomore Ava Crane (Dartmouth, Mass.) had 18 digs and nine kills for the Bears while sophomore Lily Welch (Hanson, Mass.) added 17 digs and eight kills.

Sophomore Lilly Misay (New Bedford, Mass.) contributed 16 digs and nine assists and graduate student Bethany Votta (Cumberland, R.I.) had 23 assists while junior Kim Gowell (Durham, N.H.) chipped in with 15 kills.

Salve Regina was led by senior Siena DeCicco (Severna Park, Md.) with 25 assists and 11 digs.

Junior Lucy Swanson (Yarmouth, Mass.) added 19 digs and 11 kills, sophomore Lily Dobbins (Richmond, Ky.) had 23 digs and junior Lauren Hoyle (Albany, N.Y.) added 17 digs.

The Bears never trailed in the third set with a kill by Misay closing it out. In the fourth set, BSU was down, 12-11, but was outscored, 10-4, the rest of the way.

BSU is 0-8 against Salve Regina in a series that began on Oct. 15, 2010.

New England 3, Bridgewater State 0

The Nor'easters improved to 7-0 this season and are now 8-2 all-time against the Bears in a series that began in 2008.

UNE won by scores of 25-17, 25-16 and 25-21.

Votta had 12 digs and 10 assists for BSU while Welch added 12 digs and seven kills.

Misay contributed 13 digs, freshman Natalie Fredriksen (Plymouth, Mass.) had 11 assists and Crane chipped in with seven kills.

For UNE, Kassidy Bradshaw (San Antonio, Texas) had 27 assists and 12 digs, Addie Miller (Wilmington, Del.) added 18 digs and five assists and Ellijah Hanley (Haleiwa, Hawaii) had 16 digs and six kills.

The Nor'easters play again on Tuesday against Husson.