By Jim Fenton

BRIDGEWATER, Mass. -- The bus trip to their NCAA Division III tournament game a year ago this week was roughly 400 miles and took about seven hours.

Twelve months later, members of the Bridgewater State University volleyball team got on another bus Wednesday bound for another NCAA tourney game, only this trip covered around 40 miles.

The Bears went to Baltimore, Md., in 2024 and are currently in Medford, Mass., just north of Boston, for their second consecutive appearance in the national tourney.

The distance may be shorter, but the scenario is the same for BSU.

The Bears are once again facing a nationally-ranked opponent that is hosting the first-round match.

This time, BSU (17-4) will be playing Tufts University (22-5) at Cousens Gymnasium on Thursday night at 7 p.m.

BSU made its first trip to the NCAAs since 2008 last November and lost to third-ranked Johns Hopkins, 3-0, which advanced all the way to the national semifinal round before losing to Wisconsin-Whitewater.

Now, the Bears have drawn Tufts, which moved up to No. 14 from No. 20 in the American Volleyball Coaches Association poll after winning the New England Small College Athletic Conference tournament last weekend.

The Jumbos became the first No. 4 seed to accomplish that, defeating two nationally-ranked opponents in top-seeded and host Wesleyan and Colby, now seventh in the country, in the process.

"It's going to be a very tough match," said BSU coach Tony daSilveira. "We're going to go in there and do what we've done all year, stick together, focus, go as hard as we can and relentlessly play until that match is over. That's all we can do."

Since 1994, Tufts has won all 23 matches against the Bears. The last meeting was in 2012 at the Hall of Fame Invitational hosted by Mount Holyoke, and the Jumbos won, 3-0.

This is BSU's first trip to Tufts since 2008 when the Bears lost, 3-0, in the opening round of the NCAA tourney.

It will be another tough test for BSU, which won the Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference tourney for a second year in a row to get to the NCAAs.

"I think it just shows us that going into the tournament, you're going to be playing some really good teams," said senior hitter Kim Gowell (Durham, N.H.). "These are all people who just won their conference and are coming in with energy.

"We just have to do the same thing and remember we're capable of whatever we set our minds to. It's not just a fluke that Bridgewater is in the NCAA tournament again. We did that."

The Bears will use the experience of traveling to Johns Hopkins and going up against a top-notch opponent as they venture back into the NCAAs this fall, nearly one year to the day.

BSU started slow in last season's NCAA match and showed improvement in the three-set match.

"That was a good opportunity for us," said senior hitter Alexis Starks (Milford, Mass.). "We got to see great competition. They're a great team. Having that game and being able to see where we were then and where we are now, it helps."

Said junior captain Lily Welch (Hanson, Mass.), a two-time MASCAC tourney Most Valuable Player, "It will help a lot. When you go play a team that is as talented as (Johns Hopkins), it's really eye-opening. It'll just give us a lot more experience in knowing what to prepare for when we play Tufts."

Moments after BSU's 2024 season at Johns Hopkins last November, returning team members already turned their attention to 2025.

They liked the feeling of being in the NCAAs and wanted to experience that again.

"It might have been when I came back (to the locker room) from the postgame press conference, they were saying, 'Coach, we've got to get our speed up, we've got to do that, we've got to do that for next year,'" said daSilveira. "I wasn't expecting that.

"I thought I was going to be seeing tears. But it was focus. The minute that last ball dropped (in the loss), it was, 'We'll be back.'"

And the Bears are back in the NCAAs, making consecutive trips for the first time since 2007-08 to end a run of 10 appearances in a row.

"It's an incredible feeling," said senior captain Meaghan Coutu (Brookline, N.H.). "I knew that we could do it. Our skill is a lot better this year. I think the girls on our team are a lot closer. We've been working in the offseason in the gym

"After last season, we set up gym time. We were all in the gym. We were all team bonding. We wanted it so bad. This team is so talented that we can do whatever we have our mind to."

The environment of the NCAAs and playing a host team that is nationally ranked won't be brand new this time around.

The Bears are looking to settle in early and compete with one of the best teams in the country.

"Once we got a taste last year, it was all we could think about, going again," said Welch. "We were talking about winning the MASCAC over and over again. It's been a lot of anticipation and now we want to go a third time next year, too."