Jen Fortin
Staff Writer
Framingham State faced Brockport State in the first round of the NCAA Division III Volleyball
Championship Tournament on Friday. The Rams lost in three games with scores of 25-19, 25-21 and 25- 22.
Alycia Rackliffe led the team with 17 kills and only one error. Danielle Girard had eight kills with no errors, 16 digs and three service aces. Julia Wan tied with Girard at eight kills and Sarah Leonard totaled 32 assists.
On the opposing Golden Eagles, outside hitter Kayla Barber secured 17 kills and three service aces. Setter Noelle Poloncarz added in 51 assists, while Kathleen Irwin totaled 21 digs.
The first set began with an Eagles lead at 13-7 until the Rams slowly gained points to trail by two. With an Annie DeLoid kill, the Rams came within one. However, Brockport battled back, continuously racking up points and won the set on a Framingham attack error.
The second set proved to be another Brockport lead, despite a back-and-forth point increase by both teams. After four of Rachel Fiser’s service points, the Eagles led 11-6. Despite a service ace from Girard, Brockport gained another four points to make it 16-10. The Rams held their opponents at 24 while gaining three points to trail by only three, but the set concluded with a kill by Ashley Capone.
Set three began with a Rams lead of 9-5 and throughout the entire set, Framingham stayed on top. After a Brockport timeout, with a score of 20-17, the Golden Eagles tied it up at 20. A block from Rackliffe and Mackenzie Webster gave FSU the ball back, but they could not execute. The Eagles took the lead for the first time in the set and the game ended with another Capone kill.
The Golden Eagles advanced in the Tournament to face Spring5eld College the following day and lost in three sets.
The Framingham State Rams finished their 2015 season at 25-9 and 5-1 in the conference, playing a total of 111 sets with a hitting percentage of .209.