WESTON, Mass. – Eastern Nazarene College rallied to force a fifth game and defeated the host Regis College Pride, 3-2, on Tuesday night in non-conference women's volleyball action. The Lions used set scores of 22-25, 25-17, 17-25, 26-24, and 15-7 in the win. ENC picks up its first win of 2013 to move to 1-4 overall, while the Pride have dropped four-straight and sit at 1-4.
The Pride jumped out to an early 8-2 lead in the opening set following a Kristina del Rey (Miami, Fla.) kill and a Lions error. Eastern Nazarene climbed back into the game to tie it at 9-9 following a kill from Cayla Clinkscale (Winchendon, Mass.) and took their first lead of the day at 11-10 on back-to-back errors by the Pride. Sam Bliss (Framingham, Mass.) knotted the game at 12-12 before both teams traded points, and following a Pride error, the Lions were staked to a 19-15 lead.
Regis answered with a quick 5-0 spurt, taking advantage of several ENC errors, to take the lead back at 20-19 before a Kortney Jenkins (Bunker Hill, W.V.) kill knotted the game at 20-all. Two more ENC errors put Regis on top 22-20 and a del Rey block followed by a Jackie Silver (West Hills, Calif.) kill after an Eastern Nazarene timeout ended the first set with the Pride on top 25-22.
Eastern Nazarene took an early lead in the second set at 3-0 before the Pride roared back to take a 6-4 lead on another del Rey kill. The Pride clung to a one point lead for awhile before Clinkscale and Lauryl Berger (Laurel, Del.) combined on a block to put ENC on top, 9-8. Kortney Jenkins made it a 13-9 game with a service ace, but del Rey and Marilia Ramos (Chimbote, Peru) rejected a Dana Day (Coarsegold, Calif.) attempt to cut the deficit to 13-14. The Lions responded with an 11-4 run to close out the set and even the score at 1-1 with the 25-17 win.
Set three began as a back-and-forth battle until a Lions attack error made it a 14-10 lead for the Pride and forced an ENC timeout. Regis stretched its lead out to 18-12 on a Silver kill and never had its lead drop below four the rest of the way en route to the 25-17 set three win.
The Pride opened the fourth set looking to close out the Lions and took a 9-4 lead on a Kristina del Rey solo block that forced another Lions timeout. The break in action worked as ENC clawed its way back into the game to tie it at 13-13 on a Jenkins service ace. Regis responded with a 4-0 run to take a 17-13 lead, but the Lions would not go away as they tied the game at 18-all on a Hannah Welsh (Derry, N.H.) kill and took the lead at 19-18 on an attack error by Regis.
Two-straight kills from Jackie Silver and Sara Casullo (Little Falls, N.Y.) followed by another del Rey block made it a 22-19 game in favor of the host Pride. As they had done all night, ENC chipped away, and back-to-back kills by Jenkins gave the Lions a late 24-23 lead. Jackie Silver and Vanessa Noesi (Puerto Plata, D.R.) blocked a Lions attempt to tie it at 24-24, but a Pride error followed by a Welsh service ace gave the Lions a hard fought 26-24 win and forced a fifth and deciding game.
The final set was all Eastern Nazarene as they took a 6-2 lead on a Welsh kill and extended the lead to 11-5 following a Jenkins kill. They never looked back as they scored four of the final six points to take home the 3-2 win over the Pride.
Regis was led by a career-high 14 kills and six total blocks from current NECC Rookie of the Week Kristina del Rey, while Jackie Silver added 13 kills of her own. Sam Bliss added eight kills and 13 digs, while Sara Casullo had four kills and 14 digs. Sara Gold (North Hollywood, Calif.) led the Pride with 17 digs, while Marilia Ramos had 36 assists, six service aces, and five digs in the setback.
Eastern Nazarene's Kortney Jenkins posted a double-double of 15 kills and 19 digs to go with three service aces in the win. Dana Day joined her with a double-double of her own on 11 kills and a game-high 21 digs. Hannah Welsh and Cayla Clinkscale had 15 digs apiece and combined for 12 kills on the night for the Lions, while Lauryl Berger dished out a match-high 39 assists and had five digs in victory.
The Pride return to action on Saturday when they travel to North Dartmouth, Mass. for the UMass Dartmouth Invitational starting with a 10:00 a.m. match against Framingham State University. Eastern Nazarene will also be a part of the Invitational, with their first match a 10:00 a.m. game against the host Corsairs.