WORCESTER, Mass. – The Bridgewater State Bears served the Worcester State Lancers their first Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) loss of the season in a five-set match with set scores of 25-17, 27-29, 23-25, 25-23, 15-9 Wednesday evening inside the Lancer Gymnasium.
Bridgewater State's Hannah Maymon (Narragansett, R.I.) logged a double-double of a 20 kills on the offense and 21 digs on the defensive end. The Bears' Clara Goncalves (Dennis, Mass.) came up just behind her with 14 kills of her own.
Bridgewater's Charleyne Panner (Gilford, N.H.) assisted the team with 46 helpers while gathering five kills on for a team-best .267 attack percentage.
Helping Maymon on the defensive end was libero Cassidy Tyros (Chelmsford, Mass.) who claimed a game-best 38 digs, while Elexi Miskiv (Centerville, Mass.) tallied 18 digs.
The Lancers' Emily Carens (Northborough, Mass.) and Sarah Powers (Hopkinton, Mass.) sparked the Worcester State offense as they totaled 13 and 12 kills, respectively. Powers produced a game-best attack percentage of .321.
Freshman setter Katie Gagnon (Hampden, Mass.) picked up her first collegiate double-double as she marked 27 assists and 12 digs on the evening. Leading the Lancers in the dig category was sophomore Megan Leavens (W. Boylston, Mass.) who gathered 29.
Worcester State out-blocked their opponents 7-4 as Quinn Donovan (Marion, Mass.) notched four (three assisted) and Gagnon and Valerie Hoyle (Bridgewater, Mass.) were granted two apiece.
Following a first set where the Bears took the lead and never looked back, the Lancers came out booming in the second set from where the game saw 17 tie scores and nine lead changes. The Bears were ahead 24-22 on a kill from Erin Clifford (Hanson, Mass.) from where the Lancers fought back and took advantage of the Bears' faults and came away with the 29-27 deal.
After the Lancers sealed the victory on the second set, they used their momentum to notch their second win on a kill from Megan Rouillard (Barrington, N.H.) and a service ace from Leavens.
Though, Bridgewater State fought back in the fourth set to tie the score at 2-2 when Shannon Grindle (Halifax, Mass.) earned the 25th point.
Going into the final and fifth set, the Bears came out strong and held a 5-1 advantage on the Lancers before Worcester State had to take a timeout to regain some drive. Though, the Bears proved to be the winners as back-to-back kills from Maymon closed out the victory.
Both the Lancers (6-8, 1-1 MASCAC) and the Bears (5-7, 2-1 MASCAC) resume play on Friday when they travel to the Roger Williams Invitational. The two teams are scheduled to play each other again on Saturday in a 5:00 p.m. matchup.