Worcester, MA- The Worcester State Volleyball team kicked off their season at the Brandeis Invitational with a double match day that saw them lead off against hosts Brandeis before wrapping up the day versus Salve Regina. The invitational has become a staple of Worcester State's season as they test their talents against some of the top teams in the region.
The day started with a three-set match versus Brandeis that saw the Lancers go 19-25, 17-25 and 17-25 in the hard fought first match of the day. The Lancers stayed close on the heels of the Judges through the first set after Brandeis jumped out to a quick 10-3 lead. From there the Lancers quickly fought their way back to within four points of a series of kills by junior Angela Colonis (Waterford, CT) and sophomore Cassie Millea (Orange, CT). A service ace by senior Jess Rancourt (Grafton, MA) followed by a kill from first year Beatrice Gamboa Estrella (Simi Valley, CA) saw the Lancers come within two. After a brief run by the Judges, the Lancers again closed the set to within a single point after forcing an attack error off a block by sophomore Kate Stedronsky (Sea Girt, NJ) and Rancourt. While the two teams battled back and forth, Brandeis was able to just squeeze away in the first set with a late rally. The second set saw a continued back and forth battle with Lancers claiming a lead through the start off a Gamboa-Estrella kill. The game would fall into a tie three times before the Judges managed to grab a five-point lead that quickly extended to eight before a Lancer time out looked to calm Worcester State. Coming off the time out the Lancers grabbed five quick points but some late attacking errors, but the second set was just out of reach for Worcester. The third began in a similar script read to the second as each team battled for control. The Lancers quickly jumped out to a two-point lead off a block by Gamboa-Estrella and senior Maeve Cadogan (Wilmington, MA), but Brandeis quickly regained control and started a back-and-forth battle that saw the lead alternate between the two teams. A six-point run by Brandeis in the middle of the third set saw them jump out to a 17-11 lead that ended up being just too much of a gap for the Lancers to overcome, dropping the final set 17-25.
Gamboa-Estrella led the first match with seven kills while graduate student Erin Gaffney (Worcester, MA) notched six on the match for the Lancers.
The second match of the day saw more of the same for the Lancers as they went back and forth versus Salve Regina. In the end, Salve managed to grab the win three sets to none with scores of 14-25, 15-25 and 24-16.
The first set was a full back and forth battle that saw the score tied at 11 apiece when Salve Regina went on a six-point jump that found the Lancers down 11-17. Two late errors by Salve found the Lancers back up at 14-20 but Salve Regina had the match in control to close out set one. The Lancers looked to grab the first set win of the day in the third set after Salve Regina jumped out to an early lead, Worcester, led by the strong arm of Rancourt brought that set back within one before Gamboa-Estrella's serves led to rally by the Lancers who took the lead at 11-8. Salve fought their way back to the tie game creating an ensuing battle between the two teams. With the score tied at 24-24, the Lancers hoped to put the set away and move on to the fourth, but a Brighton Solheim service ace put the match away.
Stedronsky led the way in match two with six kills on 10 total attacks, racking up a .500% kill percentage in the match while graduate student Camryn Burgio (Quincy, MA) recorded nine digs.
The Lancers (0-2, 0-0) are next back in action on September 6th when they travel to Anna Maria for a 6pm matchup.