Worcester Takes Double Loss at Trinity Tri

Worcester, MA- The Worcester State Volleyball team (5-11, 1-0), fresh off a conference opening victory over Salem State, return to double day action as they head to Trinity College to face off with Trinity and Nichols. The non-conference action is the first two of three matches that break up the Lancers MASCAC slate and prepare them for a grueling end of season conference schedule. Worcester aims to double sweep the day and add two more wins to their tally.

Final

Worcester State: 0

Trinity: 3

(21-25,17-25,12-25)

Final

Worcester State: 0

Nichols: 3

(25-27, 20-25, 10-25)

How it Happened:

The first match of the day started off in Connecticut between the Lancers and Bantams. The score was evenly matched for over half of the first set, with junior Cassidy D'Esposito (Medford, NY) leading the charge to keep the blue and gold in the game. Worcester attempted to keep pace with Trinity but fell behind in the after the 18th point in a kill push by Scarlett Jago.The set would be finished by a roaring serving ace by the Bantams, the Worcester could not reciprocate.

The second set was a lot less eventful than the first, with the Lancers succumbing to a 17-25 loss. Worcester was making errors early, which set them back for the entirety of the game, finding them just chasing at the heels of Trinity. Worcester would only score their first point, after the Bantams had scored 7. 

The final set of the match was all in Trinity's court as they quickly built up a score of 15-3 that made the Lancers job double difficult as they not only needed to claim the set but come from 12 down to continue the match. The Lancers would bring the game two within nine, but the lead was just too big for Worcester as Trinity took the 25-12 set and match victory.

First year Katherine Crateau (North Andover, MA) would lead worcester with nine digs in the match while D'Esposito would end the game with seven kills

There would be a brief rest period before Worcester would kick off action in match two versus the Nichols Bison. The Lancers and Nichols would keep the first set tight with the game tied at 20-20 before the Bison were just able to grab some needed breather points to build a lead up ahead of Worcester. The Lancers were not willing to go down without a fight though, bringing the set back to a tie game at 24-24 and 25-25 to keep the set active. With a two point lead needed to claim the victory each team was geared two tow quick points, alas Nichols would beat the Blue and Gold to the punch as they claimed the 27-25 victory in the opening action. 

With renewed energy coming from a close loss to Nichols, 27-25. The Lancers were looking forward to carrying over this energy into set two. Worcester came out ready to play, keeping the score close for most of the game. They would match Nichols in scoring until 16-16 where the Bison would go on to have a 9-1 run, and put the second set out of the grasp of the Lancers.

The third set of the match, would again see Worcester down 0-2 on the day but not giving up and counting themselves out. Unlike Nichols though, Worcester already had five sets under their belt and this sixth set tapped into their reserves which the Bison used to their advantage to grab a 20-7 lead. Worcester would claim back a couple points but the fresh energy of Nichols was too much for Worcester as they lost the set 25-10.

Crateau would again lead the squad, this time with 17 digs while senior Angela Colonis (Waterford, CT) would take the kill crown with seven in the match.

What's Next:

The Lancers (5-13, 1-0) will remain on the road as they take the quick trip down the street next Thursday to take on Clark University in out of conference action at 7pm.