WESTFIELD, Mass. – The Westfield State Owls volleyball team sailed past the visiting Salem State Vikings in three sets (25-15, 25-16, 25-14) at the Woodward Center on Wednesday, Oct. 2.
The win keeps the Owls perfect in MASCAC play (4-0) and 9-6 overall. Salem drops to 0-11 overall and 0-3 in the conference.
Brianna Starkey (Rockland/ Rockland) and Ashley Crowley (Billerica/ Billerica) paced the Owl attack with 11 and nine kills respectively. Both added solo blocks in the winning effort, Starkey had two and Crowley one.
Senior setter, Ally Rega (Chelmsford/ Chelmsford), dished out 25 assists on the night. Rega was recognized prior to the game for reaching her 1,000 career assist last Saturday at Framingham State.
Salem State was led offensively by Sarah Janco's (Methuen/ Central Catholic) seven kills and Morgan Adams' (Scotia, N.Y./ Scotia-Glenville) 19 assists.
Jess Haradon (Mansfield/ Mansfield) posted a game-high 15 digs for the Owls.
The Viking defense had three double digit dig totals, Haley Reed (Goffstown, N.H./ Goffstown) with 11 and both Genevieve Kempster (Hopedale/ Blackstone Valley) and Emily Hennessy (Hanover/ Hanover) grabbed 10.
Westfield controlled the service line, connecting on nine aces compared to the Vikings' two. Lizzie Taylor (Medfield/ Medfield) led the charge with five and chipped in 14 digs.
Both teams travel this weekend for nonconference tri- matches on Saturday, Oct. 5. Westfield goes to Keene State (4:00 p.m.) and plays Western Connecticut (2:00 p.m.) while the Vikings head to Wentworth (11:00 a.m.) and play Northern Vermont- Johnson (1:00).
