NCAA Women's Volleyball Tournament Preview
BRIDGEWATER, Mass. -- There was once a time when trips to the NCAA Division III tournament were routine happenings for the Bridgewater State University volleyball team.
By Jim Fenton
BRIDGEWATER, Mass. -- There was once a time when trips to the NCAA Division III tournament were routine happenings for the Bridgewater State University volleyball team.
From 1999-2008, the Bears reached the national tourney 10 straight years under coaches Ken Duarte (seven times), Kelly Taylor (twice) and Bob Roscoe (once).
But in 2009, BSU lost to Westfield State University, 3-1, in the Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference tournament final, ending that run of NCAA appearances.
The drought lasted through five different coaches over 14 seasons (there was no volleyball in 2020 due to COVID) from 2009-23.
That long stretch without going to the NCAA tourney finally ended this fall when the Bears, picked to finish fifth in the preseason poll, won the MASCAC tournament championship.
They are in Baltimore, Md., to play an opening-round match against host Johns Hopkins University, the nation's third-ranked team.
The Bears (13-9) and Blue Jays (29-2) meet on Thursday at 7 p.m. at Goldfarb Gymnasium.
Coming off a 4-13 season and picked to finish in the bottom half of the MASCAC, BSU is representing the conference in the NCAAs, one of 64 teams still going in the nation.
"It's pretty amazing," said graduate student Bethany Votta (Cumberland, R.I.), one of 10 players in program history with at least 1,000 assists. "It's great to be in this moment with my team and this beautiful program. I'm overwhelmed.
"It's hard to believe. I'm still processing the whole thing. It's been insane. I'm so happy and so appreciative of this whole team."
BSU opened the season 1-6 with six losses in a row, then put together an eight-game winning streak, matching the longest since 2015.
The Bears finished a game out of first place in the MASCAC, then stunned Westfield State, 3-2, in the final by winning the final three sets.
BSU made the long bus ride to Baltimore and had a practice session on Wednesday at Johns Hopkins to prepare for the program's first NCAA tourney game since a loss to Tufts on Nov. 13, 2008.
"It's unreal," said sophomore Lily Welch (Hanson, Mass.), an all-conference first-team selection. "It feels like it hasn't sunk in yet for so many of us. It's amazing. It's crazy, but we also know it's not crazy because we've worked so hard and we deserve this.
"We're like a family. Every girl on this team, the coaches, the manager. We're all very close and this means the world to us."
BSU struggled with injuries in 2023 and played with a shorthanded roster.
But the addition of new players like transfer Ava Crane (Dartmouth, Mass.) and freshmen Charlotte Sullivan (Hyannis, Mass.) boosted the roster.
"We had a small team my freshman year," said sophomore setter Xin Ai Robinson (Kaiserslautern, Germany). "We've gotten so much better. We went from 4-13 to 13-9 and winning a MASCAC championship.
"Having a bigger team and the recruits we had come in, the whole vibe of this team changed with the more people we had. Everybody is really good and fills the position they need to. It increased our level of competition at practices, which made us better than we were last year."
Tony daSilveira, the program's first MASCAC Coach of the Year since Duarte in 2003, saw the change starting during workouts last spring.
That carried through to preseason practices and then into the season after the rough start.
"I think they trust each other," said daSilveira. "They believe in each other. They have open communication with each other.
"The talent was there and we carried over the mindset of talking to each other. It feels like a family. The skill we knew we had, just get them to believe was the thing we had to do."
Votta, in her fifth year with the program, has watched the team develop into a tight-knit group.
"I think it's the energy of this team this year," she said. "Last year, we started getting closer, more like a family. This year, we're definitely the closest we've ever been. Everyone is happy to be part of the program."
The first game in the NCAAs since '08 will be a huge challenge for BSU.
Johns Hopkins won the 2019 national title and has been in the Elite Eight the past two seasons.
The Blue Jays won their eighth straight Centennial Conference championship on Sunday and reached the Sweet 16 in 2017 and 2021.
Their only two losses this season were to defending national champion and top-ranked Juniata, 3-1, and fourth-ranked MIT, 3-1, before winning 19 in a row.
"It's going to be interesting," said Votta. "But I feel like we're going to have a good time. We're going to put our all into it. There's nothing to lose. We're ready for it."
Said Welch: "It's a privilege to play against a team that's as good as that. It's going to be an amazing experience."
No matter what happens, the Bears will be adding another chapter to a successful season.
"I think that'll be very good for us,'' said Robinson of facing Johns Hopkins. "We're playing a really good team. It should improve us even more than we already are."
BSU has all but two players returning for the 2025 season, so the future should be bright after this run back to the NCAAs.
"The emails are flying in from recruits even more," said daSilveira. "You get them every day, but it's been like a bunch since the weekend when you win.
"It's a special thing for the ladies. Now they'll get to see the (MASCAC title) banner on the wall and be able to say, 'We were the best volleyball team and trusted each other.'
"Just seeing our name come up (during the NCAA Selection Show on Monday) was something. It was very nice and to hear the girls get excited. The challenge will be tough. I know we can play good volleyball. I just want to see them stick together. I think we'll put up a great fight."
To follow the Bears' progress during the 2024 NCAA Division III Women's Volleyball Tournament, please click on the links below.