Worcester, MA --- Junior Jennifer Cabral (Swansea, MA) narrowly missed on a double-double with nine kills, 10 digs and a pair of service aces as she helped propel Worcester State to a 3-0 victory over Bridgewater State in MASCAC women's volleyball action this evening at Harrington Auditorium.

The Lancers (20-5, 4-1 MASCAC) are a win away from securing a top seed and a first-round bye in the upcoming conference tournament while the Bears fall to 14-16 and 2-3 in league action.

WSU dispatched the visitors in three straight sets by scores of 25-20, 26-24 and 25-22.

Also leading the way for the Lancers was senior Alyssa Jasper who finished with 12 kills and six digs as junior Kaylee Leduc (Swansea, MA) had a squad-best 15 digs. Senior Amanda Lewis (Poughkeepsie, NY) dished out 31 assists to go with a trio of digs and two kills.

Freshman Megan Rouillard (Barrington, NH) added five kills and two assists for WSU.  

BSU sophomore Hanna Maymon (Narragansett, RI) ended her night with eight kills and a contest-high 23 digs as junior Julie Hutchins (Bellingham, MA) and sophomore Ciara Goncalves (Dennis, MA) combined for 17 kills in the setback.

Senior Stephanie Tuepker (Marstons Mills, MA) and freshman Christina Jaros (Plymouth, MA/South) both had equal sums of three block assists and a trifecta of digs each.

In the first set, a late ace by Bridgewater State senior Sarah Mullarkey (Salem, MA) helped the Bears pull to within one point of equaling the score (19-18), but the hosts used a 5-1 run to force set-point. The Lancers parlayed several BSU attacking errors while Cabral notched a kill and she pitched in with sophomore Valerie Hoyle (Bridgewater, MA) on a block assist.

After the Bears go the ball back on a Lancer miscue, their rally hopes were extinguished when junior Meghan Deighan (Lynnfield, MA) ended the opening set with a kill.

In the pivotal second set, the crowd was treated to nine ties and six lead changes before BSU emerged with the 23-19 margin. Worcester State though took advantage of several unforced errors and utilized a 7-1 surge to close out the set.

An ace by Cabral tied up the score at 24-24 and the Bears were whistled for an under the net violation for the Lancers final point.

In the third, Worcester State led by as many as seven and then they increased their margin to 20-15. The Bears, however, got back into the game following several Lancer miscues and on two block assists by Tuepker and Jaros to trail by one (22-21).

The Blue and Gold, however, regained their composure after a timeout and ended the set with three consecutive winners by Cabral, Jasper and Deighan to end it.

The Lancers head to New London, Connecticut for a triangular match against Mount Holyoke at 4 PM before taking on host Conn College at 6 o'clock on Saturday.

Bridgewater State starts off with Hamilton on Friday in the Hall of Fame classic at 7 PM in Amherst before finishing the tournament with Smith at 10 AM and Trinity at 2 PM. The final two games will be played in Northampton on Saturday.