Lancers Take Down Bears in Three

Worcester, MA- Back on Sept. 28, the Worcester State University Lancers hosted the Bridgewater State University Bears in a tightly-contested, five-set Lancer victory. Tonight, the two teams met in Worcester once again in a postseason rematch as the fourth-and-fifth-seeded teams in the MASCAC. With a spot in the second-round on the line, Worcester State was able to outmatch Bridgewater, coming away with a 3-0 match sweep. 

The Lancers had complete control of the first set, getting off to a quick 4-0 lead, and scoring 10 of the first 13 points forcing Bridgewater to take an early timeout down 10-3. Unfortunately for the Bears, their timeout lacked little long standing momentum. After scoring the first point following the brief break, they fell behind and watched Worcester State pull away with an easy win. Worcester State commanded the remainder of the set, running away with a 25-10 win heading into the second. 

Worcester State carried their momentum over into the second set, immediately taking the first point, and taking a whole lot more, as the set went on. Bridgewater State was forced to take a timeout while down 12-4, and then again when the score was 17-8 in Worcester's favor. Erin Gaffney, a senior out of Worcester, Mass., had a fantastic set and played a pivotal role in the 

Lancer's 25-15 win. Though the difference in score was great, the final point provided plenty of excitement, as the Lancers and Bears volleyed back and forth with fantastic lunging digs on both sides of the net, ultimately ending in the Lancer's set-clinching point. 

The third set provided just about all of the evening's drama, with the Bears and Lancers in an absolute dogfight. Gone were the big leads of the first two sets as neither team pulled away throughout the battle. Once the game was knotted up at 8-8 neither team held a lead larger than three, and once the Bears took a 13-12 lead, they would not fall behind for quite some time. Worcester State finally got ahead of Bridgewater in the dying moments of the set. Tied at 22, the Lancers were able to win three of the last four vollies to punch their ticket to the second round of the MASCAC playoffs. 

Bridgewater State was led offensively by freshman Meaghan Coutu (Brookline, NH), and defensively by junior Victoria Caiano (Acushnet, Mass.). 

Bridgewater finishes their 2022 season with a MASCAC record of 3-4, and an overall record of 9-11. Worcester State will travel to Framingham State on Thursday night for a 7:15 p.m. game against the #1 seeded Rams, a team that ended the Lancer's season last year.