POLAR BEARS DOWN PRIDE IN NCAA FIRST ROUND

POLAR BEARS DOWN PRIDE IN NCAA FIRST ROUND

WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. - Bowdoin College got off to a fast start and never looked back Friday, sweeping Regis College 3-0 (25-11, 25-11, 25-17) in the quarterfinals of the NCAA Div. III New England Regional on the campus of Williams College.

Bowdoin (22-8) advances to face MIT (28-5) in the regionals semifinals Saturday at 2:30 p.m.

Sophomore Erika Sklaver had 13 kills without an error while Christy Jewett added 12 kills and eight digs in the win. Quincy Leech added 27 assists and a team-high nine digs.Bowdoin hit .360 for the match and had nine total blocks in a complete effort.

"I thought we swung out of the middle really well, especially in the first two sets," Bowdoin's acting head coach Kristin Hanczor said, "and the tempo on our sets were really good. Regis adjusted to that in the third set, so we had to continue to mix up our sets to sort of deceive their block."

Regis saw its historical season end at 24-9. For the Pride, Gracie Molinari led the way with seven kills while Tina Lathrop had a team-high 11 digs.

"This year has been a historical one for the program," Regis head coach Scott Wright said. "I think it's a great marker for where we are going in the future, and for the girls who were with me at the start and are seniors now, a great way for them to end their careers."

Bowdoin won the first set 25-11 after jumping on the Pride for 7-0, 9-2 and 15-2 leads early on. Erika Sklaver had three kills early on to set the pace and both Jewett and Albright got into a groove in the game's middle with three and two kills, respectively. Jewett and Sklaver finished the set with four kills in six attempts with no errors.

Regis trailed 11-4 in set two but back-to-back kills by Nicole Connolly and Gracie Molinari and a Bowdoin attack error made it 11-7. The Pride trailed 15-9 when Bowdoin went on a 6-0 run that clinched the outcome. Sklaver had a pair of kills and two aces by Michelle Albright highlighted the run.

After two sets, the Polar Bears were serving at a .333 clip and had their blocking game working well as Sklaver, Hailey Wahl and Clare Geyer each had four block assists.

Release courtesy of Williams College Sports Information