Jen Fortin
Staff Writer
The Lady Rams volleyball team had a tough start to their season, losing four straight games before picking up a win.
Their first game against Gordon ended in a 3-2 loss with the teams having to play a fifth set after the Rams pulled ahead in the previous two sets.
Set five ended at 15-10 with the Gordon Scots taking the win. Senior right side hitter,
Alycia Rackliffe totaled 29 of the 51 kills in the game for the Rams, while junior outside hitter Sarah Leonard had nine.
Setter Mackenzie Whalen contributed 41 of the team total 48 assists.
The Rams had only two service aces compared to Gordon’s 12. Junior Vicki Anderson led the team with 11 digs.
The Scots surpassed the Rams with 59 kills while setter Renee Cooprider totaled 52 assists.
The Rams lost in three sets against Springfield in their second game of the season.
The match scores ended at 20-25, 17-25 and 12-25. Rackliffe secured 11 of the 27 kills in the game and the team collectively totaled 21 errors.
Junior setter Molly Meehan had 14 assists. The team only scored two points oG service aces and had seven blocks compared to Springfield’s 19.
Anderson had seven blocks while senior Julia Wan had four.
The Springfield ladies secured 42 kills total while setters Marnae Mawdsley and Daniela Detore together had 34 assists. Libero Anagabrielle Sanchez had 14 digs in the game.
Framingham State lost in four sets against Rochester Institute of Technology with match scores of 19-25, 25-21, 17-25 and 16-25.
The team struggled in kills totaling 28 with Wan having eight and Rackliffe seven, compared to the Tiger’s 44 kills against the Rams. Meehan again led the team with 20 assists.
Anderson scored four service aces, one in each set matchup.
Leonard led the team with 12 digs while Rackliffe also secured four blocks. Rochester’s Sarah Szybist secured 19 kills in the game while setter Erin Parkinson totaled 37 assists.
Freshman Shelby Doheny contributed six blocks for the Tigers. Two of the Rochester players each had five service aces.
The Rams lost the fourth game of the season at Plymouth State, ending 3-1.
After Plymouth won the first two sets, the Rams gained some spirit and won the third 25-17 but then lost the fourth.
Rackliffe lead again in the kill category, with 23 of the 42 team total. Meehan totaled 37 of the 40 assists for the Rams.
Leonard scored two service aces. The FSU ladies racked up 79 total digs with five players totaling 10 or above, those being Wan at 18, Anderson 16, Leonard 13, Meehan 11 and Rackliffe at 10.
Rackliffe also had two solo blocks on the night.
For the Panthers, senior Kayla Wyland led the team with 16 kills and setter Megan Bailey had 46 assists and seven service aces in the game. Plymouth State had a team total of 68 digs. The Panthers continue on at 1-3.
Framingham easily racked up points against Newbury College on Saturday.
They went 3-0 in a win against the Nighthawks with set scores of 12-25, 18-25 and 19-25.
Rackliffe led with 13 kills while Wan had nine. Leonard set in the game and completed 24 assists.
The Rams totaled 10 service aces against Newbury, with Wan making four, Meehan with three, Leonard with two and Anderson with one.
Wan and Anderson led the team with eight digs each to contribute to the team total of 46.
Rackliffe also added to her numbers with three blocks and sophomore Casie Thurber had two blocks in the game.
Newbury struggled in all three sets with middle hitter Courtney Banks totaling only 10 kills against the Rams.
Setter Marlene Reynoso had 17 assists and the Nighthawks totaled 38 digs. Newbury moves on with a record of 0-2.
The Rams came oG with another win on Saturday when they played Southern Maine following the Newbury game.
FSU went 3-0 with set scores of 17-25, 21-25 and 18-25. Rackliffe again led the team with 10 kills, while Wan had six.
Thurber and newcomer Deirdre Fay each had five kills. Leonard contributed to 23 of the 28 assists in the game.
The team had a season high of 12 service aces with three of those coming from Anderson.
Freshmen Fay and Alexandra Fish each had two service aces. The Rams tied with the Huskies with 47 digs with Fay responsible for 10 of those.
The 10 blocks in the game were secured by Rackliffe (5), Thurber (3) and Wan (2).
Southern Maine totaled 28 kills and two service aces.
Senior Megan Nilson led the team with 17 assists and 11 digs. The Huskies also had six blocks against the Rams. Southern Maine came oG of this loss with a 5-2 record.
Framingham State completed its third win of the season against Bridgewater State on Tuesday.
The Rams went 3-0 in their first conference matchup, leaving set scores of 17-25, 23-25 and 16-25. Rackliffe produced almost half of the 25 kills totaled by the Rams, while Wan also contributed six.
Whalen set in the game and had 17 assists. Anderson led again with five service aces with Leonard and Rackliffe having two apiece.
Whalen, Rackliffe and Leonard led in the digs category together totaling 38 of the team total 59.
Middle hitter Thurber had two blocks on the night against the Bears.
For Bridgewater, outside hitter Hannah Maymon led the team with seven kills. Setter Charleyne Panner totaled 23 of the team’s 24 assists.
Middle block Erin Clifford completed three blocks against the Rams.
The team also totaled 68 digs with no service aces.