Bridgewater State Edges Salem State 3-2

SALEM, Mass. --  Bridgewater State earned their first conference win with a 3-2 victory over Salem State in Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) volleyball action on Saturday afternoon at Twohig Gymnasium.  The Bears improve to 5-6 on the season and 1-2 in conference. The Vikings go to 0-10 and 0-2 in conference.

Bridgewater State won the first set 25-15 before Salem State bounced back with a 25-17 win in set two. The Vikings built an 11-4 lead before Bridgewater State closed the deficit to 15-12 following a kill by Becca Whalen (Plymouth, Mass.). Two kills by Sarah Janco (Methuen, Mass.) and one from Darcy McDowell (Goshen, N.Y.) pushed the lead back to six points, before Salem State closed out the set with an ace by Haley Reed (Goffstown, N.H.).

The Bears took the third set, 27-25 behind the hitting of Gabryella Serrano (Bridgewater, Mass.), who had five kills in the set. In a tightly played match, the teams were tied four times late, before a kill by Serrano and an ace by Casey Holmes (Norton, Mass.) gave the victory to Bridgewater State.

Salem State prevailed 25-21 in the fourth set to force a fifth and deciding game. The Vikings took advantage of 10 errors by the Bears, who hit just .019 for the set. Leading 21-20, three errors and a kill by Janco provided the margin of victory.  

Trailing 5-4 in the fifth set, Bridgewater State pulled out the win with a 7-3 run highlighted by back-to-back kills from Abigail Gardner (Holden, Mass.). The Vikings pulled to within two late, but an error and kill by Whalen gave the Bears a 15-12 win.

Serrano had 12 kills, 10 digs and four aces for Bridgewater State. Gardner finished with 10 kills and 18 digs while Casey Holmes (Norton, Mass.) dished out a game-high 37 assists. Sydney Rice (Medway, Mass.) also provided double-digit kills with 10.

Janco led the Vikings with 12 kills and two aces. Morgan Adams (Scotia, N.Y.) had 27 assists and eight digs. Reed contributed 11 kills while Darcy McDowell (Goshen, N.Y.) -19 digs, Genevieve Kempster (Hopedale, Mass.) – 13 digs and Emily Hennessy (Hanover, Mass.) – 23 digs were active in the backcourt.