Bridgewater State sweeps to third straight MASCAC volleyball title as Dartmouth's Ava Crane is named MVP

RAYNHAM Framingham State had pulled within 22-20 in the third set of Saturday's women's volleyball conference final when Bridgewater State took the last three points, the final one a kill by senior captain Lily Welch.

Top-seeded Bridgewater State beat No. 3 Framingham State 3-0 (25-13, 25-16, 25-20) at the Tinsley Center in Bridgewater for its third straight Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference women's volleyball championship. Sophomore Janasia Brandao put down a kill, Welch and junior Charlotte Sullivan teamed on a block, and Welch ended it with a kill off a set from senior Xin Ai Robinson, with senior Ava Crane of Dartmouth serving the last two points. The match took 71 minutes before a crowd of 250.

Crane, an outside hitter who played at Dartmouth High, was named the tournament's most valuable player, Bridgewater State Athletics said. She had nine kills on .333 hitting, a team-high 16 digs, an ace and two block assists in the final, two days after putting down 20 kills in the semifinal win over Worcester State.

The title carries the MASCAC's automatic berth in the NCAA Division III tournament, which the NCAA's women's volleyball committee recommended for the conference in February, and sends the Bears to the NCAA field for the third straight year and the 13th time, the school said. The NCAA reveals its 64-team bracket, 44 automatic qualifiers and 20 at-large teams, at 1 p.m. Monday, Nov. 16, on NCAA.com, with regional play Thursday through Saturday, Nov. 19 to 21. Last season the Bears lost their NCAA opener at Tufts, 3-0.

The Bears, in coach Tony daSilveira Jr.'s ninth season, are 19-3 and have won 14 matches in a row since a 3-0 loss to Plymouth State on Sept. 19, the school's schedule shows. They won all nine of their MASCAC matches this fall 3-0, two of them in the tournament, and have won 23 straight conference matches dating to October 2024, the school said.

The Bears outhit Framingham State .318 to .092, put down 44 kills to 25, served 11 aces to three and had seven team blocks to two. Framingham State, coached by Richard Casali in his 23rd season, fell to 20-11.

The first set

Framingham State scored the first point on a Bridgewater State setting error, its only lead of the set. Crane answered with a kill, then served an ace and a ball that ended in a block by Brandao and Sullivan for a 3-1 lead. After a kill by senior Natalie Reynolds, a Framingham service error started a four-point run, and Sullivan served the next three, two of them aces, for a 7-2 lead.

Junior Sarah Medeiros and Reynolds answered with kills for the Rams. Welch put down a kill, junior setter Natalie Fredriksen served an ace and junior Gracey Gorman finished a set from Crane for a 10-4 lead, and Gorman and Welch later stuffed freshman Mckenzie Kastner for an 11-5 lead.

Three straight Bears errors cut it to 11-8, and Bridgewater State answered with four in a row. Junior Kesmyn Alves, Gorman and Sullivan put down kills, and senior libero Lilly Misay of New Bedford served an ace after a Framingham timeout to make it 15-8. Back-to-back Crane kills made it 17-9, and with Crane serving, Welch put down two straight kills for a 21-10 lead.

Reynolds answered with a kill and a block alongside Medeiros for 21-12, and Welch, a Sullivan ace and an Alves kill took the Bears to set point at 24-12. After a Bridgewater State service error, Welch ended the set 25-13 with a kill off a Robinson set. The Bears hit .344 in the set and held Framingham State to four kills against four errors.

The second set

Framingham State tied the second set 2-2 on a Medeiros kill, and a Welch kill started six straight Bridgewater State points. Sullivan served the last five of them, as Welch put down two more kills and Alves one around two Framingham errors for an 8-2 lead, and Brandao's kill made it 9-3.

Kastner, a freshman from San Antonio, Texas, put down kills on two of the Rams' next three points, the second starting a four-point run that a kill by senior Emma Dobbins, a Bridgewater State attack error and an ace by sophomore Kristina Santiago-Alers carried to 10-9.

Crane stopped it with two straight kills, the start of a 6-1 Bears run. Sullivan and Crane blocked Dobbins for a 14-10 lead, and Robinson, a setter from Kaiserslautern, Germany, served an ace for 16-10. Sullivan and Crane then blocked Reynolds for 17-11, which brought a Framingham timeout, and the Rams got within 17-13 on a Reynolds kill and an ace by senior Jaimee Lowe.

Sullivan answered with a kill and an ace, and after Framingham's Madysen Cedrone and Kastner combined on a block, Brandao, Alves and Welch put down kills in a row for a 22-14 lead. Kastner added two more kills around one by Welch before Crane put down a kill for set point at 24-16, and Sullivan finished the set 25-16 off a Fredriksen set with Misay serving.

The third set

Freshman Rachel Hoerig opened the third set with a Framingham State ace, and senior Anneli DiVirgilio put down a kill for a 2-1 lead. The set was tied 12 straight times, from 1-1 through 12-12, the lead changed hands seven times, and the Rams went up 14-12 on a Kastner kill off a Cedrone set and a Bridgewater State attack error.

Alves put down a kill to make it 14-13, and with Welch serving, a Kastner attack error tied it before Alves and Gorman blocked Kastner for a 15-14 lead. Senior Jamie Moniz of Swansea tied it 15-15 with a kill, and that was the last tie of the match. Alves answered with a kill, and Misay served an ace for a 17-15 lead.

After a Kastner kill, a Framingham service error put Robinson on the line with the Bears up 18-16. Crane put down a kill off a set from Misay, which brought a Framingham timeout at 19-16. Robinson followed with an ace, and Sullivan and Crane put down kills for a 22-16 lead.

Moniz broke that run with a kill, and with Hoerig serving, Reynolds put down two straight kills and a Bridgewater State attack error made it 22-20. The Bears called timeout and did not give up another point.

Who did what

Welch, a middle hitter from Hanson who played at Whitman-Hanson Regional, led all players with 14 kills and 15 points, hitting .270 with four errors in 37 swings, and added six digs and two block assists. Sullivan, a Hyannis middle hitter who played at Barnstable High, had seven kills on .333 hitting, a match-high five aces and four block assists for 14 points.

Robinson had 25 assists, two aces and two digs, and Fredriksen, a junior from Plymouth who played at Sturgis East, had 16 assists, three digs and an ace. Alves, an outside hitter from Brockton, had eight kills on .313 hitting and a block assist. Gorman, a right-side hitter from South Weymouth who also played at Whitman-Hanson, had three kills on five swings, a solo block, two block assists and four digs, and Brandao, a sophomore from Brockton, had three kills without an error and a block assist.

For Framingham State, Reynolds, a senior middle hitter and captain from Beverly, and Kastner had nine kills and a block assist apiece, Reynolds hitting .172 and Kastner .200. Hoerig, a freshman defensive specialist from Brookfield, Wisconsin, had a match-high 17 digs and an ace, and Cedrone, a junior setter from North Andover, had 22 assists, eight digs and a block assist.

Lowe had six digs and an ace, Dobbins two kills and four digs, Medeiros two kills and a block assist, Santiago-Alers an ace, an assist and two digs, and DiVirgilio a kill and two digs.

South Coast players on both sides

Crane's freshman teammate Chloe McKinnon, an outside hitter, is also from Dartmouth and played at Dartmouth High, the roster shows. Misay, a senior from New Bedford who played at Greater New Bedford Regional Vocational Technical High School, had six digs, two aces and the set for Crane's kill that made it 19-16 in the third set.

Moniz, a senior middle hitter and Framingham State captain from Swansea who played at Joseph Case High School, had both of her kills in the third set, without an error in six swings, and a dig. Framingham State's roster also lists freshman middle hitter Victoria Welzel of Rehoboth, who played at Bristol County Agricultural High School.

How they got here

Framingham State reached the final with a 3-2 win at No. 2 Westfield State on Thursday, Framingham State Athletics said, and Bridgewater State had swept the Rams 3-0 in Framingham on Oct. 10, the Bears' schedule shows.

Bridgewater State also beat Framingham State 3-1 in last year's final on Nov. 15, 2025. The Bears won 10 straight MASCAC titles from 1999 to 2008 and are the first team to win three straight since Framingham State from 2014 to 2016, according to the school.

The Bears learn their NCAA opponent and site Monday afternoon, with the first round as soon as Thursday.

Label: Reported by us, from the town's posted records.