CHICOPEE, Mass. – After a sluggish first set, Regis College battled back to defeat Elms College, 3-1, clinching the fourth seed in the upcoming Great Northeast Athletic Conference Women's Volleyball Tournament and a home quarterfinal match. The Pride went on to sweep Bay Path University, 3-0, for their 22nd win of the season, tying for second-most in a single season in program history.
Regis 3, Elms 1 (16-25, 26-24, 25-23, 25-20)
Kate Montigny (Shrewsbury, Mass.) led the Pride with a season-high 15 kills and a .500 hitting percentage, while Valerie Whalen (Stoughton, Mass.) finished with 10 kills. The setting duties were split between Karly Sanborn (Gilmanton, N.H.) with 23 assists and seven digs and Emily Fagundo (Dover, N.H.) with 17 assists and six digs. Kamdyn Tenorio (Irvine, Calif.) paced Regis with 22 digs to go along with eight kills, and Mica van der Meulen (Colorado Springs, Colo.) added 15 digs.
Elms took control of the first set with nine unanswered points, including a kill and consecutive service aces from Alanys Cruz Diaz. The Blazers extended their lead to 17-4 thanks to three kills within four points by Natalia Caraballo Rivera, but the Pride responded with a 10-3 scoring run, led by three kills from Montigny. Elms would score five of the final seven points of the opening set, capped by kills from Laura Jensen and Caraballo Rivera.
Four kills and a block assist from Cruz Diaz allowed the Blazers to open an 8-4 lead in the second set before Regis put together an 8-2 scoring run to pull ahead, 12-10. After the two teams exchanged four-point scoring streaks, Elms took a 23-21 lead on two kills by Caraballo Rivera and a service ace from Govanna Rosado. The Pride answered back, scoring five of the final six points of the set, led by three kills from Whalen, to tie the match at one set apiece.
Once again in the third set, Elms took the early lead, led by Sabrina Christie with a kill and a solo block. After a block by Rita Dow (Nashua, N.H.) and Ahnasia Mckinney (Chelmsford, Mass.) tied the set at 6-6, the Blazers went on a 7-1 scoring run, led by four kills from Caraballo Rivera and two kills and an ace from Christie.
The Pride quickly responded with a 10-1 scoring stretch to pull ahead, 17-14. After kills by Tenorio and Mckinney extended Regis' advantage to 24-19, the Blazers extended the set with four straight points, but Mckinney finally clinched the set for the Pride with a kill.
The fourth set went back-and-forth until the Blazers took a 17-14 lead on a kill by Jensen and a solo block from Christie. The Pride scored six unanswered points to retake the lead at 20-17, and then they took advantage of several Elms mistakes down the stretch to close out the set and the match.
Caraballo Rivera notched a double-double with a team-high 14 kills along with 10 digs, while Jensen (12 kills, 10 digs), Cruz Diaz (12 kills, 12 digs), and Rosado (39 assists, 12 digs) also finished with double-doubles. Christie contributed seven kills, seven digs, three service aces, and five total blocks, and libero Kianna Lozada led the Blazers with 20 defensive digs.
Regis 3, Bay Path 0 (25-10, 25-17, 25-12)
Numerous players made contributions for the Pride, as 12 different Regis players earned at least one kill, led by Dow with six kills on seven attempts. Fagundo collected a career-high five kills to go along with 11 assists, Olivia Pacheco (Waterford, Conn.) also finished with five kills, and Luinet Melendez (Ponce, Puerto Rico) paced the backline with 11 digs.
The Pride went on an 11-1 run to open a 12-3 lead in the first set and then scored six straight points to extend that advantage to 19-5. Regis closed out the opening set thanks to a kill and a service ace from Whalen as well as a kill by Dow.
In the second set, blocks by Victoria Burkovskiy and Lydia Clifford allowed Bay Path to take a 7-6 lead before Regis gained control with a 6-1 scoring run, led by three kills from Pacheco. The Pride would later score the final four points of the set, featuring two service aces from Toni Ondris (Mineola, N.Y.).
Regis scored eight of the first nine points of the third set and then rattled off six straight points to open a 14-3 advantage. After the two teams exchanged points for a while, the Pride closed out the set and the match with three unanswered points, including kills by Fagundo and Melendez.
Clifford led Bay Path with six kills and nine digs, but Regis held its opponent to a .014 hitting percentage in the match. The Pride posted a .291 team hitting percentage and collected 12 service aces while making just five service errors.
Regis College (22-7, 10-3 GNAC) will be the fourth seed in the 2021 GNAC Women's Volleyball Tournament and will host fifth seed Norwich University in the quarterfinals Tuesday, Nov. 2, starting at 7 p.m. at Higgins Court.