WESTON, Mass. – The top-seeded Regis College women's volleyball team advanced to their fourth-straight New England Collegiate Conference Championship match with a 3-0 sweep of No. 4 Daniel Webster College on Friday night in the NECC Semifinals in a packed house in Weston, Mass.
The Pride (21-10) look to capture their second-straight New England Collegiate Conference crown on Saturday afternoon at 2:00 p.m. Regis will take on No. 2 seed Lesley University who defeated No. 3 seed Newbury College 3-1 in the other Semifinal on Friday night.. Daniel Webster wraps up the year at 11-19.
In the opening set, the Pride jumped out to a 6-2 lead following back-to-back kills from Graciella Molinari (Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.) and Sydney Trusty (Durham, Conn.), prompting a Daniel Webster timeout. The Eagles fought their way back into the match and tied it at 10-all after a Hannah Koehler (Bedford, N.H.) block. Regis and DWC traded points until an Emily DeBarros (Brockton, Mass.) kill gave the hosts a 20-16 lead.
Two straight kills from Nicole Beard (Shelton, Conn.) and Courtney Sheyeene-Warrington (Canton, Texas) cut the deficit to 21-18, but the Pride scored four of the final five points to take a 1-0 lead in the match with the 25-19 win.
Regis dominated play to open the second game and took a 6-0 lead after another DeBarros kill and a Crystina Lathrop (Houston, Texas) service ace. Madeline Roulier (Pittsfield, Mass.) helped pull the Eagles to within 11-8 with a kill, but the Pride answered with a 7-2 run to jump on top 18-10.
After a DWC timeout, the Pride rattled off a 7-3 run to end the game and grab a 2-0 lead in the match with the 25-14 win.
Set three was all Regis as Sydney Trusty knocked down four kills in the game, while Molinari and DeBarros added three apiece as the Pride cruised to a 25-11 victory and a place in the NECC Finals.
Graciella Molinari posted a game-high 10 kills with a .500 hitting percentage to lead the Pride. Rachel Bartels (Edinburg, Texas), Emily DeBarros, and Nicole Connolly (San Mateo, Calif.) had six kills apiece; with Trusty and Haley Schulte (Fullerton, Calif.) adding five kills each. Schulte added 14 assists and seven digs, with Crystina Lathrop adding 17 assists and seven digs of her own. Shay Faber (Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.) led the Pride defense with nine digs.
Courtney Sheyenne-Warrington, Amanda Gendron (Mount Vernon, N.H.), and Hannah Koehler each had four kills to lead Daniel Webster. Madeline Roulier added three kills and six digs, while Nicole Beard had a pair of kills to go with 13 assists and five digs. Meaghan Six (Manchester, N.H.) led DWC with nine digs.