SALEM – Salem State lost in three sets to MCLA in the first match of a scheduled tri-meet at Twohig Gymnasium on Saturday afternoon on “Think Pink” day. The Trailblazers won, 25-18, 25-17, and 25-12 to improve to 12-13 while evening their record to 2-2 in the Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference. Salem State slides to 6-17 and 1-4 in the MASCAC.
MCLA broke open a closely contested first set as back-to-back kills by Brianna O’Rourke (Piseco, N.Y.) and Brooke Queripel (Palmer, Ark.) opened up a 16-12 lead. MCLA took advantage of poor hitting by Salem State to cruise to the win. Six kills by Allison Clark (San Jose, Calif.) spearheaded the Trailblazers to a 25-17 victory in set two. MCLA finished the sweep by jumping out to a commanding 16-8 lead in set number three. Back-to-back kills by Sam Anderson (Floral Park, N.Y.) and two by O’Rourke down the stretch gave MCLA a 25-12 win.
The Trailblazers were led by Anderson and Clark, who combined for 16 kills. Taylor Wiese (Las Vegas, Nev.) had a game-high 19 digs while Rebecca Godbout (Springfield, Mass.) led the defense with seven digs.
Hannah Mullarkey (Picture Right) (Salem, Mass.) led the Vikings with nine digs while Mackenzie Salls (Turner Falls, Mass.) 
had eight assists and Emily Hennessy (Hanover, Mass.) six kills.
Salem State plays next at Framingham State on Wednesday evening beginning at 7:00 PM. MCLA hosts Worcester State also on Wednesday with a 7:00 PM start.
