BRIDGEWATER, Mass. -- The Bridgewater State University volleyball team held off visiting Rhode Island College, 3-1 (25-22, 25-20, 20-25, 25-23), on Thursday evening at the Tinsley Center. Bridgewater wore pink warm-up jerseys as part of the Side-Out Foundation Dig Pink® breast cancer awareness initiative.
The Bears improve to 2-5 on the season with the win while the Anchorwomen fall to 6-7. Bridgewater is 10-8 versus RIC since 1994.
Senior middle hitter Abigail Reardon (Fairhaven, Mass.) paced Bridgewater State with 13 kills, a .360 hitting percentage, two aces and four blocks (one solo). Senior setter Bethany Votta (Cumberland, R.I.) dished out a career-high 36 assists and added three kills, three aces and 12 digs. Freshman libero Lilly Misay (New Bedford, Mass.) led the defensive effort with a career-best 21 digs in addition to five assists and six aces. Sophomore right side Meaghan Coutu (Brookline, N.H.) checked in with a career-high 13 kills and one assisted block, while freshman middle hitter Lily Welch (Whitman, Mass.) contributed a career-best 11 kills and a .409 hitting percentage, and sophomore outside hitter Sarah Brogioli (Milford, Mass.) notched eight kills, four aces and 15 digs.
Freshman defensive specialist Marina Colonis (Waterford, Conn.) led the way for Rhode Island College with seven kills, three aces, 16 digs and an assisted block. Freshman outside hitter Sarina Marines (Cranston, R.I.) filled the stat sheet with ten kills, three assists, one ace, five digs and an assisted block, while freshman libero Carolyn Bailey (Ipswich, Mass.) recorded 22 digs and junior middle blocker Megan Philbrick (Johnston, R.I.) tallied three kills, six aces and three blocks (two solo). Sophomore middle blocker Sydnee Pires (Rochester, Mass.) registered four kills and a match-high seven blocks (two solo).
The Bears held a comfortable 19-11 lead in the first set following a 6-1 run which featured a pair of aces from Misay, two kills by Coutu and one by Reardon. The Anchorwomen, however, answered with seven straight points highlighted by two aces by Philbrick, kills from Marines and Pires and a pair of assisted blocks. The two teams exchanged points before an RIC attacking error followed by a BSU tandem block gave the hosts a 22-19 lead. The Anchorwomen would get no closer than two points the rest of way as Welch closed out the 25-22 set one decision with a kill.
Bridgewater trailed 11-9 in the second set but reeled off five straight points capped off by a pair of Votta aces to jump on top, 14-11. Reardon notched two kills and Coutu added one during the run. Marines answered with back-to-back kills to cut the deficit to 14-13. A kill by junior right side Rachel Sebastian-Asbed (St. Louis, Mo.) and an ace by Knight sandwiched around a pair of RIC attacking errors extended the Bridgewater advantage to 18-13. The Anchorwomen notched five of the next six points as the Bears committed two serving errors and two attacking errors to make it a one-point game at 19-18. Bridgewater was able to regroup thanks to a kill by Votta and back-to-back aces from freshman defensive specialist Xin Ai Robinson (Evans Mills, N.Y.). After RIC pulled to within 22-20 following successive BSU errors, the Bears closed out the set with a kill and an ace by Brogioli followed by a Coutu kill.
RIC led throughout most of the third set. Up 18-17, the Anchorwomen tallied five straight points, highlighted by a pair of Colonis' aces, to take a commanding 23-17 lead. Two kills by Welch and one from Coutu helped the Bears close the gap to 24-20, but a BSU serving error gave the visitors the 25-20 win.
Bridgewater never trailed in the fourth set. With the score knotted at 10-10, the Bears seemingly took control of the period with a 6-0 run. Kills by Brogioli, Coutu and Reardon as well as a Votta ace helped give the hosts a 16-10 lead. The Anchorwomen, however, would respond as kills by Colonis and Philbrick as well as two BSU attacking errors cut the RIC deficit to 17-14. Later in the set, a Reardon solo block and a Brogioli ace gave the Bears a five-point cushion. RIC would not go quietly as a 5-0 run knotted the score at 22-22. A serving error started the spurt while consecutive kills by junior outside hitter Rhiannon Hodovanec (Feeding Hills, Mass.) and Colonis capped it off. A kill by Brogioli was answered by Hodovanec as the game remained tied. Reardon then closed out the set and the match with back-to-back kills.
The Bears finished with 50 kills, a .183 hitting percentage and 19 aces, but also committed 22 serving errors. The Anchorwomen posted a .104 hitting percentage with 11 aces (just seven serving errors) and ten blocks.
Both teams are back in action on Saturday. The Bears travel to Salem State University for a noontime Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) match with the Vikings. The Anchorwomen host Little East Conference (LEC) foe UMass Boston at 11:00 AM.