WESTON, Mass. – Regis College won the first two sets and took the early lead in the third set, but Colby-Sawyer College rallied back for a 3-2 victory (20-25, 20-25, 26-24, 25-8, 15-7) Wednesday night in a Great Northeast Athletic Conference women's volleyball match at Higgins Court.
Katryna Veasey (Quincy, Mass.) notched her seventh double-double of the season with 16 kills and 11 digs, while Tori Ondris (Mineola, N.Y.) also finished with a double-double thanks to 12 assists and 14 digs. Mica van der Meulen (Colorado Springs, Colo.) earned 17 assists and seven digs, Lauren Butt (Topsfield, Mass.) led the Pride at the net with five total blocks, and Caroline Fuentes (Downey, Calif.) tied her career high with 28 defensive digs.
Maddie Bromley led Colby-Sawyer with 20 kills, plus she earned 16 digs as five Chargers finished with at least 13 defensive digs, led by Rebecca Straubel with 18 digs. Setter Anna Allen also notched a double-double with 38 assists and 16 digs, and libero Morgan Flynn contributed four service aces and 15 digs.
Colby-Sawyer (12-7, 4-2 GNAC) opened a 7-3 lead in the first set and then, after an ace by Veasey put Regis on top, 9-8, scored four straight points to retake the lead at 12-9. Later in the opening set, the Pride rattled off six unanswered points, led by Veasey with two kills and a block assist, to open a 21-16 advantage, and then Regis closed out the first set with four of the final five points.
Regis put together an 11-1 scoring run in the second set, including two kills by Rachel Bartels (Edinburg, Texas), to open a 21-10 lead. Colby-Sawyer started to show signs of a comeback with a 10-3 scoring run, featuring three total blocks by Courtney Murray, to close to within four at 24-20, but a Charger error allowed the Pride to clinch the second set and take a 2-0 match lead.
The Pride started on their way to completing the sweep by winning the first four points of the third set. Down 9-4, the Chargers went on a 14-4 scoring run, capped by a kill from Maddie Conroy, to pull ahead, 18-13. After falling behind 23-18, the Pride won the next five points, including two block assists by Samantha Turner (Concord, N.H.), to tie the set, but Colby-Sawyer eventually won the set on a kill by Katarina Hornung, extending the match.
The Chargers maintained that momentum in the fourth set, winning the first seven points and cruising to a 25-8 set win, once again capped by a kill from Hornung. Colby-Sawyer opened a 5-2 lead in the fifth set and then, after Regis closed to within one at 7-6, won eight of nine points to close out the set and the match, with Hornung earning the set-clinching kill for the third time.
Regis (8-8, 1-5 GNAC) steps out of conference for a tri-match Saturday, Oct. 6, first facing WPI at 11 a.m. before taking on Worcester State at 3 p.m. Colby-Sawyer hosts Babson tomorrow night, Oct. 4, at 7 p.m. before facing Simmons and Albertus Magnus in a tri-match Saturday, Oct. 6.