WENHAM, Mass. — Gordon Volleyball had its four-match win streak snapped by Regis College 3-0 at the Bennett Center on Tuesday night. The Pride's strong service game carried them to a 25-20, 25-21, 25-20 win in three sets, improving to 9-5 on the season. Gordon falls to 7-4 with the loss.
A close match was to be expected coming into the night with the two squads sharing similar results against like opponents during the opening weekends. Gordon looked to avenge a three-set loss suffered at the hands of the Pride from a season ago, with home-court advantage on its side.
In every set, Gordon jumped out to an early 7-3 lead, but in similar fashion the Pride countered with an impressive serving lineup to always pull back even by midset. Regis libero Marilia Ramos (Chimbote, Peru) and freshman Haley Schulte (Fullerton, Calif.) each led the Pride on several long rallies thanks to a consistent service game. Ramos finished with three aces, while Schulte racked up four of her own as Gordon struggled to find the return game.
The first set was ruled by a game of runs, with Gordon holding a 17-15 advantage in the middle of the game. After a Gordon service error brought the Pride within a point, Ramos and her well-placed serves put Regis on a 9-0 run to bring them close to an opening set victory. A timeout by the Fighting Scots spurred a small comeback, but freshman Nicole Connolly (San Mateo, Calif.) closed the door with a kill in the final point.
Gordon raced out to another early lead in the second set, but once again Regis mounted an attack of its own. The two teams seesawed back and forth until the Pride held a 22-20 advantage late in the set. Regis managed to take three of the final four points to take a two-set lead in the match.
The Fighting Scots looked like they would turn the corner and register its first set win in the third with a big 8-3 lead. Not to be outdone, Regis went on another rally to eventually take a 13-12 edge and the Pride would never trail in the match again. Gordon got within a point at 18-17, but Regis' serving ability down the stretch proved to be the difference in a three-set sweep.
Connolly led the Pride with eight kills, while Sydney Trusty (Durham, Conn.) had a seven-kill performance of her own. Setter Tina Lathrop (Houston, Texas) had 23 assists and 16 digs while managing Regis' attack. The aforementioned Ramos added a team-high 18 digs to her strong serving performance.
Gordon's offense was dictated by Joy Kimmel's (Madison, Conn.) 27 assists and three block assists. Faith Gerdes (Wall Lake, Iowa) continued her string of solid performances with a team-high nine kills and nine points. Senior Shaylyn Roach (South Weymouth, Mass.) pitched in six kills to finish second on the team in the category. Jenna Labbadia (Berlin, Conn.) had four block assists and Maggie Risma (Hudson, Ohio) commanded the defense with 25 digs.
Regis is back on the court Thursday night for an away match at Southern Maine at 7:00 p.m.
Release courtesy of Gordon College Sports Information