Women’s Volleyball Puts up a Fight with Salem State

WORCESTER, Mass. – In an action-filled game, the Worcester State University women's volleyball team dropped their first Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletics Conference (MASCAC) game Tuesday night to the Salem State Vikings 3-1 (29-27, 25-23, 25-14, 25-23) at Laska Gymnasium on the campus of Assumption College.

Despite the loss, three Lancer players recorded double-doubles on the night, as the team was stat-packed with kills and digs. Worcester State outnumbered the Vikings 44-38 in kills, and 67-50 in digs.

Senior Jennifer Cabral (Swansea, Mass.), freshman Emily Carens (Northboro, Mass.), and junior Jamika Townsend (Virginia Beach, VA) paced the team with their double digit figures. Cabral tallied 10 kills while also adding on 13 digs. Carens, who recently received the MASCAC Rookie of the week honors, tagged on 13 assists and a game-high 16 kills. The Lancers' setter, Townsend, recorded a game-high 31 assists and logged 14 digs on the night.

Senior Meghan Deighan (Lynnfield, Mass.) set a game-high seven blocks against the Vikings (one solo), while junior Valerie Hoyle (Bridgewater, Mass.) landed the team's highest attack percentage at .625.

On the Vikings end, senior Emily Peay (Lebanon, Conn.) led the team in kills with 14, and came up just one-short of a dig from attaining double-double figures. freshman Mackenzie Salls (Turner Falls, Mass.) tallied 24 assists on the night, while freshman Samantha Chaisson (Duxbury, Mass.) led the team with 14 assists.

In the first match, the Vikings had a 21-12 advantage on the Lancers, until sophomore Katrina Kangwijaya (Dunstable, Mass.) subbed in and got the team on a six-point roll, starting her performance with a service ace to boost the team's confidence. It was then that they put the pressure on the Vikings and ended up with a tie game a 22. The teams played to a 29-27 game, resulting in the loss for the Lancers.

The second game was kept to a two-point margin throughout, but at the end Salem State's Peay put up two kills to take the 25-23 win over the Lancers.

Worcester State took the third set 25-14, but was not able to hold on for the fourth match as they fell behind early. The Lancers tried to catch up, but ended up falling 25-23 against the Vikings.

This game drops the Lancers to 2-4 overall (0-1 MASCAC), while Salem State ups their record to 2-3 (1-0 MASCAC).

This weekend the Lancers will look to improve their record at a tournament in Boston on Sep. 19 where they will challenge Lesley College and Wentworth.