WESTON, Mass. – Regis College combined consistent offense and strong backline defense to defeat Colby-Sawyer College, 3-0 (25-15, 25-16, 25-15), Tuesday night in a Great Northeast Athletic Conference women's volleyball match at Higgins Court.
Valerie Whalen (Stoughton, Mass.) led the Pride with 12 kills and a .357 hitting percentage, while Kamdyn Tenorio (Irvine, Calif.) notched her second double-double of the season with 11 kills and 10 digs. Emily Fagundo (Dover, N.H.) dished out 36 assists, and Tyler Wax (San Diego, Calif.) paced the Regis defense with a season-high 20 digs.
The Pride scored 11 of the first 12 points of the match, but the Chargers worked their way back into the first set with a 9-2 scoring run, led by Olivia Werner with three kills and Ameesah Cotten with two block assists. After a kill by Kaytlin Young brought Colby-Sawyer back within three at 18-15, Regis rattled off seven straight points to close out the opening set, featuring two blocks by Ahnasia Mckinney (Chelmsford, Mass.) and Rita Dow (Nashua, N.H.) as well as two kills from Whalen.
Regis opened an 8-4 lead in the second set on two kills by Dow and a service ace from Wax, and then the Pride extended the advantage to 13-5 thanks in part to consecutive kills by Kate Montigny (Shrewsbury, Mass.). The Chargers cut their deficit to three at 17-14 on a block by Cotten and Ally Majenski, but Regis put together an 8-2 scoring run to clinch the set, capped by a kill from Tenorio.
After the Pride jumped ahead in the third set 5-2, Colby-Sawyer responded with three straight points, including consecutive blocks by Cotten and Mia Harmon. The Chargers took a 9-7 lead on kills by Cotten and Sam Mohammed, but the Pride took control with a 17-3 scoring stretch, led by four kills from Tenorio and three kills by Whalen. Colby-Sawyer extended the match with three straight points, but Whalen finished the set and the contest with her 12th kill of the night.
Werner and Ava LaValle led the Chargers with five kills apiece, but Colby-Sawyer posted a negative hitting percentage. Led by Cotten with six total blocks, the visitors earned more team blocks than Regis (8-5), but the Pride finished with more than twice as many kills (42-20) as well as the advantage in defensive digs (54-38).
Regis (14-5, 6-2 GNAC) heads to West Hartford, Conn., for a GNAC tri-match Saturday, Oct. 16, against host University of Saint Joseph and Saint Joseph's College of Maine. Colby-Sawyer (8-11, 2-3 GNAC) hosts Simmons Wednesday, Oct. 13, at 7 p.m. as well as Rivier and Anna Maria in a conference tri-match Saturday, Oct. 16.