WORCESTER, Mass. - The Worcester State University volleyball team will play in its second consecutive Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference Championship match after dominating #4 Framingham State 3-0 in Thursday evening's conference semifinal at John P. Brissette Court. Set scores were 25-15, 25-13, 25-14.
The Lancers (22-10) wasted little time taking control of the match on the evening. Senior Emily Carens (Northborough, Mass.) recorded three consecutive kills in the early going to kick start an 11-3 match-opening run, and Worcester State would never look back. Carens, senior Amari King (Lawrence, Mass.), and junior Stephanie Chapin (Hampden, Mass.) all recorded four first set kills as the Lancers went ahead 1-0.
The second set was more of the same, as the Lancers cruised to a 2-0 advantage. The early stages of the set were tight, as the teams were even at 6-6, before the Lancer offense would go back to work. A kill from King capped a 10-3 Lancer run, putting the hosts ahead 16-9, a deficit that would ultimately prove too much to overcome. Moments later, a botched set from Framingham State clinched set two in favor of Worcester State.
The Lancers opened the third set with an impressive 8-0 run, forcing the Rams to burn an early timeout. Framingham State would make a bid at coming back, but could get no closer than 11-7 before the Lancers would pull away and put the match to bed.
Carens finished with the match's lone double-double, with a match-high 16 kills to go along with 11 digs. Chapin finished with 10 kills and seven digs, while King recorded nine kills and 18 digs. Senior Megan Leavens (Storrs, Conn.) had a match-high 21 digs on the evening, pulling her into a tie for the Worcester State career digs record at 1,271, tied with Vicki O'Brien '13.
Sophomore Brandey Rodriguez (Lawrence, Mass.) and freshman Brandee Thomas (North Kingstown, R.I.) led the Ram offense, each recording six kills on the night. Freshman libero Alyssa Cafarelli (Peoria, Ariz.) was the defensive star for Framingham State, with 17 digs.
The Lancers advance to face the winner of the other semifinal between Westfield State and Salem State Saturday at John P. Brissette Court. First serve is set for 6 p.m. Framingham State's season comes to a close with a record of 17-15.
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