Worcester, MA- The Lancers made a pre-Halloween trip to Salem, Mass. tonight to take on Salem State University looking to pick up their fifth MASCAC win of the season against the Vikings and extend their current win streak to four matches. The Lancers came in hot on the tails of a three-win week, but were stopped in their tracks by Salem State in a tightly contested game.
Despite a team leading 11 kills by junior Maeve Cadogan (Willmington, Mass.) and a resounding 34 digs by senior Camryn Burgio (Quincy, Mass.) they were outmatched in four sets.
The match opened to immediate excitement as the score was tight throughout the first set. Though the Lancers got off to an early five-point lead, the Vikings knotted the score up at 10-10. Neither team would pull away with more than a one-point lead until Salem pulled ahead late by a score of 23-21. That lead would only stand for so long, as Worcester State came right back and tied it up at 24. Salem fought to regain their lead and take the first set 26-24.
Coming up just two points short of an opening set victory seemed to light a fire under the Lancers, as they took a commanding 8-0 lead to start the second set of the night, and would control play throughout, as they would even the match at a set a piece thanks to a commanding 25-12 victory.
The third set of the night saw a return to the tone of the opener, as the Lancers and Vikings battled it out in a set that once again came down to the wire as neither team was able to distance themselves from the other. The teams found themselves tied on eight separate occasions, as the lead shifted teams five times. Down 24-23, Worcester took a timeout. The Lancers came out of the timeout and were able to knot the game back up at 24, but would ultimately fall to the same score as the first set, 26-24.
The next set was again tightly contested, with the two squads once again in a dog fight that saw the score even up at 12, 13, and 15 apiece. The Lancers would pull within one by a score of 18-17, only to watch the Vikings score five straight points to pull them within two of clinching the match. Worcester State was able to conjure one last rally, finding themselves down one 24-23 and in striking distance of extending the match to a fifth game. The rally fell just short, as the Vikings scored the next point to secure their second conference win of the season.
The Lancers come out of this evening's battle at 4-2 in the MASCAC, and 6-18 on the season overall. They will have a chance to bounce back at Mount Holyoke College on Saturday morning at 11 a.m.