Owls Sweep Anna Maria

WESTFIELD, Mass. – Senior Emily Washkalavitch (Oxford, Pa.) led Westfield State with seven kills and seven aces as the Owls cruised to a three-set sweep over Anna Maria College (25-12, 25-15, 25-13) in a MASCAC match from the Woodward Center in Westfield, Mass. on Thursday night.

The Owls improve to 11-9 on the season and 3-1 in the MASCAC while the AMCATS are now 3-14 overall and 0-5 in the conference.

Nine different Owls recorded a kill in the contest with Emma Nihill (Chandler, Ariz.) following Washkalavitch by recording five kills. Morgan Dority (Walpole, Mass.) logged 21 assists, pushing her season total over 500. Zurielys Rivera (Caguas, Puerto Rico) added eight digs.

The Owls piled up a season-high 20 aces for over a quarter of their scoring on the night. Five different Owls compiled three or more aces.

For the AMCATS, Vanessa Guimaraes (Springfield, Mass.) had four kills. Gia Hall (Landenberg, Pa.) contributed nine assists and ten digs to pace Anna Maria in both categories.

The Owls never trailed in set one, scoring the final nine points of the frame to pull away on the service game of Washkalavitch, who launched two aces over the net within that span.

Westfield pushed the lead into double digits midway through set two after an Emma Nihill kill and an Anna Maria attack error. Samantha Rapp (Bay Shore, N.Y.) picked up a kill to punctuate an eight point run for a 16-5 advantage. The Owls would lead by as many as 13 points in the set before an ace from Hanna Nihill (Chandler, Ariz.) completed set two.

Guimaraes tallied the first point of the third set, but after kill from Shaneidy Hernandez (Springfield, Mass.) on the next point, the Owls took command of the remainder of the set. Kassandra Littlefield (Southampton, Mass.) notched her first kill of the season to take an eight point lead late, then the Owls closed the match by using the service game as Washkalavitch added two aces over the final three Owls point to cap the sweep.

Westfield State will hit the road for their next match which will have important MASCAC tournament implications as the Owls visit Framingham State (4-1 MASCAC) on Thursday, October 23 at 7:15 P.M.