Women’s Volleyball Fends Off Bears in Five Sets

WESTFIELD, Mass. – Westfield State first-year Sydney Cummins (Nicholasville, Ky.) recorded a game-tying 15 kills as the Owls held off a Bridgewater State rally to win a five-set match (25-17, 25-16, 26-28, 22-25, 15-10) in a key Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference game on Saturday afternoon from Bridgewater, Mass.

Both teams entered the game unbeaten in conference play with the Owls pulling ahead of the Bears in the MASCAC standings with Westfield improving to 4-0 in the conference and 11-11 on the season. Bridgewater drops to 4-1 in the MASCAC and 9-7 overall.

The Owls got out to a fast start by winning the first two sets. In the opening frame, Westfield racked up ten of 12 points midway through the set to open up an 18-10 advantage as Hanna Nihill (Chandler, Ariz.) capped the scoring with consecutive kills. Bridgewater responded with four straight points, but Westfield increased the lead by tallying seven of the final ten points, capitalizing on several attacking errors by the Bears to win set one.

In the second set, another scoring run in the middle of the stanza opened up a six-point Owls lead fueled by three kills from Hanna Nihill and service ace by Julia Dangel-Garcia (Ashland, Mass.). The Bears would get no closer than six points the rest of the way as Sarah Bingham (Reno, Nev.) extended the Westfield lead after an ace and a kill, then Julia Bartiet (Cheshire, Conn.) set the Owls up with set point after a kill of her own. Westfield won the set off a Bears attacking error.

In the third set, the Owls were in position to secure a three-set sweep after back-to-back kills from Bartiet and Hanna Nihill brought the game to match point. The Bears came roaring back, winning four straight points to even the set at 24 apiece after Lily Welch (Hanson, Mass.) delivered three straight kills for Bridgewater.

Alexis Starks (Milford, Mass.) gave the Bears just their second lead of the set, bringing the frame to set point for Bridgewater. Both teams traded points, and with the game even at 26, Kim Gowell (Durham, N.H.) and Ava Crane (Dartmouth, Mass.) delivered consecutive kills to extend the game to a fourth set.

The Bears managed to send the match to a winner-take-all fifth frame after recording nine of the remaining 11 points in the set capped by a Crane kill to win the set.

Cummins and strong defense at the net gave Westfield a 6-2 lead. Cummins broke the tie with two kills, then Bingham and Cummins slammed home blocks, making it a four-point Owls lead. With Westfield in control 7-2, Morgan Dority (Walpole, Mass.) fired home a kill, then a Bears attacking error drove the lead to seven points which would be too much for Bridgewater to overcome. The Owls sealed the critical conference win with a block from Hanna Nihill and Bartiet for Westfield's 14^th block of the game.

Emma Nihill (Chandler, Ariz.) joined Cummins in double-figure kill totals, adding ten. Dangel-Garcia logged 20 assists, and first-year Chloe Schuld (Sycamore, Ill.) continued her strong play in the back of the Owls defense, supplying 25 digs.

Westfield State finishes the season with four home games, three of which come next week as the Owls host Mass. Maritime on Thursday at 7:00 P.M. for senior night from the Woodward Center in Westfield, Mass.