By Jim Fenton

PAXTON, Mass. -- The Bridgewater State University volleyball team opened the second month of the season with a third straight victory.

The Bears swept past Anna Maria College, 3-0, at the Fuller Activities Center on Thursday night.

BSU (9-3) is tied for first place in the Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference with the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts and Framingham State University at 3-0.

Anna Maria, in its first season as a member of the MASCAC, is 3-8 with six straight losses and is 0-3 in the conference.

The Bears defeated the AMCATS, 25-12, 25-14 and 25-16 is off to its best start through 12 games since also going 9-3 in 2005.

This was the fifth sweep of the season for BSU.

Junior Ava Crane (Dartmouth, Mass.) had six kills, six digs, two assisted blocks and a .625 hitting percentage for the Bears.

Junior Lily Welch (Hanson, Mass.) contributed nine digs, five kills, two aces, four assisted blocks and had a .500 hitting percentage.

Sophomore Charlotte Sullivan (Hyannis, Mass.) added seven aces, four kills, four digs and four assisted blocks while junior Xin Ai Robinson (Kaiserslautern, Germany) had 15 assists to go along with three kills.

Sophomore Natalie Fredriksen (Plymouth, Mass.) chipped in with nine assists and three digs while senior Kim Gowell (Durham, N.H.) had a match-best seven kills.

Anna Maria was led by sophomore Gia Hill (Landenberg, Pa.) with nine assists and four digs.

The Bears scored five straight points to break a tie and take a 7-2 lead early in the first set.

A kill and two service aces by sophomore Charlotte Sullivan (Hyannis, Mass.) keyed BSU's run.

Three attack errors helped the Bears go up, 15-8, and after the lead was 19-12, BSU scored the final six points to win the set.

Senior Kim Gowell (Durham, N.H.) had two straight kills and Welch added a pair of service aces.

Anna Maria began the second set with a 4-1 lead, but the Bears scored eight of the next nine points for a 9-5 advantage.

Kills by junior Xin Ai Robinson (Kaiserslautern, Germany), senior Alexis Starks (Milford, Mass.) and Gowell led the way.

The AMCATS were within 11-8 when BSU scored four points in a row on kills by Sullivan, Welch and Fredriksen along with an ace by junior Moriah Baptista (Dartmouth, Mass.) for a 15-8 lead.

A kill by Sullivan and a Robinson ace made it 18-9 and a Robinson kill gave the Bears a 23-14 lead.

The set ended with a kill by Welch and an ace by Fredriksen.

In the final set, it was 1-1 before BSU scored nine points in a row for a 10-1 advantage.

Gowell had three kills, Sullivan two aces and Robinson and senior Meaghan Coutu (Brookline, N.H.) a kill apiece.

The AMCATS moved within 10-5 with Hill getting a pair of service aces.

But BSU took a 15-7 lead with Starks and Crane each having a kill.

Anna Maria was down, 15-9, when the Bears scored five straight points, getting two kills from Crane with two attack errors for a 20-9 lead.

The AMCATS were behind, 21-13, when a service error, a kill by Gowell and a Sullivan ace pushed the Bears ahead, 24-13.

BSU had a 34-15 advantage in kills and a 71-66 edge in attacks and led in assists, 30-12. The Bears had a .352 hitting percentage while Anna Maria was at .030.

Bridgewater recorded 12 aces on the evening but also handed Anna Maria 11 points because of serving errors.

The Bears have a break in the schedule and will not play again until Saturday, Oct. 11 when they host Framingham State at noon at the Tinsley Center.

The AMCATS will host a tri-match on Saturday, facing Westfield State at 11 a.m. and Fisher College at 3 p.m.