NORTH ADAMS, Mass. - In an afternoon that had a little bit of everything, the Trailblazers would come up just short in a big conference match with Framingham State. MCLA honored two seniors, saw another Trailblazer pass an impressive mark and the Trailblazers volleyball team lost a heartbreaking five game marathon, which has put the team behind the eight ball in securing the final MASCAC playoff berth.

Framingham and MCLA were tied for fourth place coming into the match and a back and forth affair had the Rams behind Ashley Trudeau (Rockland) and Nicole Donofrio (Whitman) pulling out the fifth and deciding game.

MCLA recognized seniors Marta Brown (Glens Falls, NY) and Wendy Norcross (Rowe) before the game. Brown was All-MASCAC in 2007-08 and both she and Norcross are three time All-MASCAC Academic Team Members. Brown and Norcross are highly responsible for the turnaround of the volleyball program in recent years.

As for the game it was a barnburner. Game one set the tone for the day as Framingham pulled out a wild see saw 27-25 victory. The Trailblazers bounced back in game two with a convincing 25-14 win; but Framingham was able to close out another close one in the third game (25-21) to go ahead 2-1. The Trailblazers again came back with a well played game four winning 25-18 knotting the match at 2-2.

Game five both teams came out a little tentative and the score was 5-5 after errors on both sides. The Rams pulled ahead behind Trudeau, but Kayla Bromback (Lee) and Christina Kidd (Glens Falls, NY) rallied the Trailblazers once again. Kidd incidentally passed a milestone in the fifth game when she became the second Trailblazer in as many games to pass 1,000 career digs. The game was stopped briefly to recognize the moment and the Rams forged ahead. The final few points featured several long rallies from the two teams, but the Rams all day seemed to get the good bounce and again found a way to win a close one 15-9.

Kidd was great today with twenty kills and twenty-one digs. Brown had 47 assists and Norcross playing for the first time in over a month due to injury had five kills and three digs.

MCLA must now beat Salem State next Saturday and hope Salem can beat Framingham the previous night to force a three way tie for fourth.

The Trailblazers will travel to Norwich on Thursday at 7:00 PM.