By Jim Fenton
BRIDGEWATER, Mass. -- The young Bridgewater State University volleyball team will be on the road to open the postseason this week.
The fifth-seeded Bears (4-12) are at fourth-seeded Framingham State University (18-10) for a quarterfinal-round game in the Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference tournament Tuesday at 7:15 p.m.
BSU's roster has just two seniors -- captains Bethany Votta (Cumberland, R.I.) and Abigail Reardon (Fairhaven, Mass.) -- and one junior -- Rachel Sebastian-Asbed (St. Louis, Mo.).
There are five freshmen and four sophomores who have been gaining valuable experience for the future.
Coach Tony da Silveira points to his captains for providing leadership on such a young team.
"They took charge during the offseason," said da Silveira. "They had captain's practices, meetings with the team. They communicate with me very well. We meet weekly to talk about the locker room, teaching them as a captain your job is not just coin flips before the match.
"They've learned a lot about how we expect them to lead and have done a good job."
Votta, a setter, ranks third in the conference with 6.2 assists per set and is ninth in aces (41). She leads BSU with 360 assists and is second in both digs (109) and aces.
"Beth is playing a position she had very minimal time with at the high school level," said da Silveira of Votta, who began as an outside hitter. "She is our setter now, running the court.
"When Bethany's on, we're pretty hard to stop. She sets the tempo."
Reardon, a hitter, is fifth in the MASCAC with a .239 hitting percentage.
"Both of them have done very well on the court," said da Silveira. "I've known Abby for eight years now. She's done nothing but improve from attitude to playing wise to skill wise. She's doing everything she can."
Freshman Lilly Misay (New Bedford, Mass.) has contributed 191 digs kills and a team-leading 45 aces while freshman Lily Welch (Hanson, Mass.) has 112 kills. Misay is sixth in the conference in aces.
BSU (2-5) in the conference) opened the MASCAC schedule on Sept. 26 with a 3-0 loss to Framingham State (4-3 in the conference). The Bears lost by scores of 27-25, 25-22 and 25-22.
"We had 20 something hitting errors," said da Silveira. "We just had too many hitting errors, hitting the ball into the net or out of bounds. That's been a problem all year. Everything else was good, the setting, the serving, the defense.
"It'll be very good (to be in the tourney). The young group is competitive. We had a good week of practice. The team was coming together at the end. I'm excited for Tuesday.
"(The future is) very promising. This young group is very important. They've very skilled and hungry. With some of the recruits we're hoping to bring in, it's only getting stronger."