By Jim Fenton

BUZZARDS BAY, Mass. -- The Bridgewater State University volleyball team completed the regular season with a road victory Saturday afternoon.

The Bears improved to 11-9 with a 3-0 win over the Massachusetts Maritime Academy and heads into the Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference tournament as the No. 2 seed.

BSU (6-1 in the conference) opens the tourney on Thursday at 6 p.m. at the Tinsley Center against an opponent to be determined on Tuesday.

The Bears have recorded their most wins since going 11-15 in 2019.

BSU broke a two-game losing streak with the win over the Buccaneers (4-22, 2-5 in the conference). The Bears won by scores of 25-16, 25-17 and 25-21.

It marked the eighth time this season that BSU won by a 3-0 score.

Sophomore Lily Welch (Hanson, Mass.) paced the Bears with a match-best 13 kills to go along with four aces, ten digs and a solo block. Welch posted a .435 hitting percentage.

Sophomore Ava Crane (Dartmouth, Mass.) recorded a match-high nine aces and 18 digs in addition to five kills, and graduate student Bethany Votta (Cumberland, R.I.) contributed 13 assists.

Sophomore Xin Ai Robinson (Kaiserslautern, Germany) added 11 assists and sophomore Lilly Misay (New Bedford, Mass.) added seven digs.

Junior Shayla Narodowg (Wellington, Colo.) had 13 assists and four digs for Mass. Maritime while senior Audrey Manning (Hanover, Mass.) added 16 digs.

The opening set was tied, 3-3, before BSU took a 6-3 lead with help from kills by Welch and junior Meaghan Coutu (Brookline, N.H.).

After the Buccaneers got within 8-7 on a kill by Narodoug, BSU scored five straight points for a 13-7 advantage. Welch and Crane contributed kills in that run.

Mass. Maritime cut a 15-9 deficit to 15-12, but the Bears moved in front, 21-12, and the Buccaneers were unable to get any closer than seven. A kill by Welch put an end to the set.

The Buccaneers held a 3-1 lead early in the second set, but a kill by junior Kim Gowell (Durham, N.H.) gave BSU a 5-4 edge.

The set was tied at 5-5, 6-6 and 7-7 before Mass. Maritime went up, 10-8. A kill by freshman Charlotte Sullivan (Hyannis, Mass.) put the Bears back on top, 11-10, and after they trailed, 12-11, BSU went on a 10-1 run for a 21-13 lead.

The Buccaneers were unable to get any closer than seven the rest of the way.

Two attack errors helped put BSU ahead, 4-2, early in the third set, but Mass. Maritime took advantage of three attack errors for a 7-4 lead.

Two kills by Welch helped make it 7-7 before the Buccaneers went in front, 10-8.

After it was tied at 11, BSU scored seven of the next eight points for an 18-12 lead that was reduced to 19-18 on an ace by Narodowg.

There were ties at 20-20 and 21-21 before the Bears scored the final four points for the victory, getting a pair of aces from Welch and a kill by Crane as part of the run.