Women's Volleyball Goes 1-1 In MASCAC Tri-Match

Worcester, MA --- Westfield State junior Alex Shaw (E. Falmouth, MA) notched totals of 23 kills and six blocks while sophomore Kelsey Leonard (Billerica, MA) added 21 kills and 13 blocks to help lead the Owls to a 3-1 victory over Framingham State and a 3-0 triumph over Worcester State to up their season marks to 15-10 and 4-0 in MASCAC play.

The Lancers (12-12, 4-2 MASCAC) opened today's tri-match with a 3-0 triumph over the Rams (15-12, 2-2 MASCAC) as they were paced by junior Kristen Koles (Billerica, MA) who recorded 13 kills and three block assists. Senior Jessi Goode (Marstons Mills, MA) led the FSU with 43 digs.

The Blue and Gold hosted "Dig Pink" day in an effort to raise money for the Side-Out Foundation as part of October's Breast Cancer Awareness month.

Worcester State will entertain Keene State in their final home game on Wednesday at 7 PM while Framingham State travels to Suffolk for a 7 o'clock non conference matchup on Thursday. Westfield State takes the week off before competing in the Hall of Fame Invitational at Mount Holyoke.

Worcester State 3, Framingham State 0 --- Box Score

With a balanced score sheet paced by six kills from Koles and senior Brittney Ledoux (Nashua, NH), Worcester State defeated Framingham State in three straight sets, 25-17, 25-10 and 25-23.

Sophomore Becky Lebel (Millbury, MA) and freshman Megan Brown (Dartmouth, MA) combined for 10 digs and 11 digs while Lebel and Koles each amassed five block assists. First-year Shawna Strazzere (Billerica, MA) handed out 12 assists as junior Joanne Grenier (Orange, MA) put up 12 digs and finished with two service aces.

Freshman Andressa Fernandes (Framingham, MA) and sophomore Jackie Friel (Centerville, MA) each had equal contributions of five kills apiece while Goode had a team-best 18 digs.

In the opening set, Worcester State started with a 7-3 lead and opened up a 13-6 advantage before Framingham made it a 18-12 contest. The Rams went on a 4-0 run to get within four (20-16), but WSC used a 5-1 spurt to win 25-17. The Lancers dominated from start to finish in the second set as they jumped out 15-5 and never looked back with the 25-10 victory.

WSU started off the third in the same fashion with a 6-3 edge, but Framingham State soon knotted the score 6-6. The Blue and Gold eventually led 11-9, but the two teams went back and forth a couple of times before the Lancers held the 19-16 advantage. FSU tied the game up 19-19 and again at 23-23, but it was the hosts who scored two consecutive points following a timeout to earn the win.

Westfield State 3, Worcester State 1 --- Box Score

Leonard finished with match-high totals of 13 kills and five blocks to help Westfield State post the victory in three straight sets over Worcester State, 25-15, 25-19 and 25-19. Shaw notched 12 kills and two blocks as Stankowski had 15 digs. DeGirolamo distributed 30 assists to go along with two service aces and a block

The Lancers were propelled by Koles, who finished with seven kills, while Brown chipped in with eight digs, four kills and one ace. Strazzere added 21 assists and three digs while Lebel notched five kills.

The opening stanza was close as the Owls led 12-10 before they went on a 9-1 run to open up a 21-11 advantage. Westfield State eventually won first game 25-15.

The second set also started off close as the visitors held a 13-12 lead as they later led 17-14. But that was as close as the Lancers would get as Westfield State posted the 25-19 win.

Worcester State held the 14-8 edge and came close to finishing the match six points away from clinching it with a 19-12 score. But the Owls eventually came back and went on a big spurt to close out the contest with a 25-19 victory.

Westfield State 3, Framingham State 1

Senior Rachel Ryan (Westborough, MA) had a match-best 14 kills to help lead Westfield State to win in four sets over Framingham State. The two squads split the first two games with identical 26-24 wins – both coming in the form of come-from-behind victories – before the Owls won the final two contests 25-13 and 25-14.

Shaw collected 11 kills and four blocks while Leonard posted totals of eight kills and eight blocks. Sophomore Alyssa Stankowski (Deerfield, MA) finished with 10 digs and five service aces as junior Kerin DeGirolamo (N. Attleboro, MA) had a great all-around game with 15 assists, 11 digs and three blocks.

For the Rams, fourth-year Nicole Donofrio (Whitman, MA) put up 15 digs as Fernandes tallied a team-best nine kills. Goode recorded 25 digs as freshman Maribeth Martin (Marstons Mills, MA) dished out 25 assists.

In the first set, Framingham State by margins of 7-3, 11-5, 17-12 and 20-14. As the Rams led 20-16, Westfield State went on a 10-5 run to close out the match and earn the victory. Trailing 24-23, Leonard came up huge for the Owls as she tied the score on a solo block and then added back-to-back kills to clinch the 26-24 win.

The second frame was closely contested as it was a back and forth contest with no team holding on to more than a three point lead. Westfield State nursed a 24-22 advantage; FSU scored four consecutive points with some solid serving by Goode.

With the series tied 1-1, the Owls ran their offense effectively while the Rams failed to get anything going on their own end of the floor. Both of the final sets were close contests early on, but the Westfield State used a pair of big spurts to post the 25-13 and 25-14 victories.