WESTON, Mass. – Regis College picked up a 3-0 victory over Lesley University on Wednesday night in New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) women's volleyball action. The Pride (12-17, 5-2 NECC) used set scores of 25-18, 25-18, 25-21 in the win over the Lynx (9-15, 5-2 NECC). Regis honored its two seniors in Sara Gold (North Hollywood, Calif.) and Vanessa Noesi (Puerta Plata, D.R.) in a ceremony before the game.
With the win, the Pride moves into a tie with the Lynx for third place in the NECC standings and own the tiebreaker over Lesley in the playoff seeding. Regis will take on second-place Newbury College on Friday night with a chance to take over the No. 2 spot in the standings with a win.
In the opening set, Lesley took advantage of three Pride errors to grab an early 3-1 lead. The Pride clawed back into the game and took a 10-5 lead following a block by Jackie Silver (West Hills, Calif.) and Susel Jerez (Lawrence, Mass.). The Pride stretched their lead to 14-7, but the Lynx scored three-straight points on a pair of Regis errors and a service ace from Katey Carew (Salem, N.H.).
Lesley got as close as 15-12 before Regis scored five of the next seven points, including a Vanessa Noesi kill, to take a 20-14 lead. The teams traded points, but the Pride lead was too large to overcome as they held on for a 25-18 victory.
The Lynx grabbed an early lead in the second set again as Anthea Rathjens (Sudbury, Mass.) put Lesley on top 3-2 with a kill. The score was tied as late as 8-8 before another block from Jerez and Silver followed by a Sara Casullo (Little Falls, N.Y.) ace and a Sam Bliss (Framingham, Mass.) kill gave Regis a three point cushion at 11-8. Following a Lesley point to make it a 12-9 game, the Pride went on a 6-2 run that included four-straight points to stretch their lead out to 18-11 capped off by a Bliss kill.
Regis kept Lesley at bay and led 23-14, but the Lynx made a late push with three-straight points including a Vanessa Smith (Somersworth, N.H.) block and a Danielle McDonald (Lilitz, Pa.) kill. Smith recorded another kill to make it 24-18, but Jackie Silver's final kill of the set gave the Pride a 2-0 lead in the match with the 25-18 win.
The Pride took an early lead in the third game on back-to-back kills from Silver and Noesi before Lesley quickly tied the score at 3-3 on a Smith kill and two Pride errors. Regis scored the next three points and later led 9-7, but Lesley would not go away as they tied the game at 11-all following another Pride attack error. Regis answered with a 4-0 run to take a 15-11 lead, but Lesley fought its way back into the game, tying the score at 19-19 by using a 6-2 run that ended with a Katrina Stroganoff (Cedar Grove, N.J.) service ace.
Kristina del Rey (Miami, Fla.) put Regis on top 20-19 with a kill, but Katey Carew answered for the visitors to tie the score at 20. Jackie Silver put the Pride back on top, but Lesley responded again with a Danielle McDonald kill to tie the score again. Regis ended the game on a 4-0 run on a Noesi block, a Silver kill, and a pair of Silver service aces to earn the 3-0 sweep with the 25-21 game three win.
Jackie Silver posted a game-high 16 kills and five service aces to go with six digs and three blocks in the win. Kristina del Rey added seven kills, while Noesi had five kills and three total blocks on the night. Marilia Ramos (Chimbote, Peru) dished out a match-high 28 assists, while Sara Gold led the Pride defense with nine digs.
Katrina Stroganoff led the Lesley attack with eight kills to go with six digs. Vanessa Smith and Danielle McDonald added four kills apiece, while Jessie Reynolds (Londonderry, N.H.) and Danielle Johnson added three kills apiece. Johnson set up the Lynx with 18 assists, while McDonald also led Lesley with 10 digs on the night.
Regis travels to Newbury on Friday night for a 6:00 p.m. matchup with the Nighthawks. Lesley will take on the top team in the standings in Southern Vermont College on Saturday afternoon at 3:00 p.m. in a home match.