By Jim Fenton

BRIDGEWATER, Mass. -- The Bridgewater State University volleyball team is in the Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference championship game for the first time since 2012.

The second-seeded Bears advanced to the title round with a 3-0 victory over third-seeded Framingham State University on Thursday night at the Tinsley Center.

They won by scores of 25-21, 25-20 and 25-20, the ninth time this season BSU has won in a sweep.

BSU (12-9) has not been in the championship game since losing to Framingham State 12 years ago.

The Bears will travel to top-seeded Westfield State University on Saturday (2:00 PM) to play for a berth in the NCAA Division 3 tournament. The Owls eliminated fifth-seeded Worcester State this evening in the other semifinal-round matchup, 3-1.

BSU has not won the MASCAC tourney title since 2008 when they earned a ninth straight trip to the NCAA championships.

The win over the Rams was the first in the MASCAC tournament since 2019 for the Bears, who defeated Salem State in the quarterfinal round five years ago.

BSU had not defeated Framingham State in the MASCAC tourney since 2007 in the semifinal round. The Bears ended a 19-match losing streak against the Rams dating back to 2010 during the regular season.

Sophomore Lily Welch (Hanson, Mass.) had a match-high 12 kills to go along with 13 digs, an ace and six block assists for BSU.

Sophomore Ava Crane (Dartmouth, Mass.) checked in with eight kills, 22 digs and a pair of assisted blocks while classmate Xin Ai Robinson (Kaiserslautern, Germany) recorded 20 assists and five digs.

Sophomore Lilly Misay (New Bedford, Mass.) added 21 digs for Bridgewater and graduate student Bethany Votta (Cumberland, R.I.) dished out 12 assists. Votta now has 1,101 assists in her career as she moved past Kristen LaRoche and into ninth place on the Bears' all-time list. LaRoche tallied 1,090 assists from 2000 to 2003.

Freshman Charlotte Sullivan (Hyannis, Mass.) had seven kills and four block assists and junior Kim Gowell (Durham, N.H.) added seven kills and pair of assisted blocks while senior Abigail Reardon (Fairhaven, Mass.) had a solo block and five block assists.

Freshman Hope Verhoeven (Wainwright, Alberta) paced Framingham State with 11 kills. The Rams also received 20 assists from junior Stella Bailey (Wrentham, Mass.) as well as 22 digs from Anneli DiVirgilio (Brookline, N.H.).

Framingham State held a 7-2 lead at the start of the first set before the Bears closed to 7-6, taking advantage of three attack errors and a kill by Gowell.

BSU was behind, 13-8, but pulled even at 14 with two attack errors and a service error helping in the 6-1 run.

The Bears took their first lead at 16-15 on a kill by Coutu and went up, 17-15, on a Gowell kill.

Framingham State made it 19-19 on a Jamie Moniz (So., Swansea, Mass.) kill, but two straight Crane kills helped BSU go in front, 23-20.

A service error followed by a kill by Welch ended the set.

The second set was even at 3-3 before a Welch kill and two service errors put the Bears up, 6-3.

Kills by Sullivan and Crane had BSU ahead, 10-7, and back-to-back kills by Welch made it 12-8.

The Rams pulled even at 13-13 and 15-15 but a kill by Gowell and two attack errors allowed the Bears to open an 18-15 lead.

Sullivan and Crane had kills to move BSU in front, 21-16, and Framingham State got no closer than four with a service error ending the set.

In the third set, Framingham State led, 6-4, but the Bears took a 7-6 lead as Welch had a pair of kills.

BSU trailed, 16-10, but an attack error and kill by Sullivan helped get the Bears within 16-13.

After it was tied at 18, two attack errors and a Reardon kill put BSU in front at 21-18. A Sullivan kill made it 23-20 and the set ended with an attack error and a kill by Crane.

Framingham State ended the season with an overall record of 13-16.