PAXTON, Mass. - After a disappointing loss this past week, the Regis (Mass.) women's volleyball team rebounded with two dominating sweeps against host Anna Maria (25-9, 25-14, 25-12) and the University of Saint Joseph (25-21, 25-13, 29-9) in Great Northeast Athletic Conference trimatch action Saturday at Fuller Activities Center.
With the win, the Pride (9-12, 5-2 GNAC) remain in the hunt for a host bid in the opening round of the GNAC's eight-team postseason tournament. Anna Maria (4-14, 1-6 GNAC) and USJ (4-12, 0-6 GNAC) remain on the outside looking in.
Next up for the Pride is a visit to GNAC heavyweight and undefeated Johnson & Wales (RI) this Wednesday, Oct. 11.
Game 1
Katryna Veasey (Quincy, Mass.) delivered an impressive performance to get the Pride back to its winning ways. She drilled 13 kills and registered 13 digs, both match highs, while also hitting at a .391 clip. Haley Schulte (Fullerton, Calif.) added three kills, 14 assists and six digs with Lauren Butt (Topsfield, Mass.) contributing five kills and three blocks.
Rebecca Foti led the AMCats with 10 kills and nine digs.
Regis made clear to AMC it was going to be a tough morning with a dominant 25-9 opening-set win. The Pride used a pair of 6-0 runs, the first with multiple kills from Sydney Trusty (Durham, Conn.) and the next highlighted by a pair of MacKenzie Emco (Sutton, Mass.) kills.
Set two featured an early 8-0 run, nearly half the points coming off Veasey kills and two more from Butt. The lead swelled to 22-11 before the Pride cruised to the win. The third set was more competitive as a Foti kill knotted the score at 10-10, but it was at that moment the Pride completely took over, closing the set and match on a 15-2 run to win going away.
Game 2
Trusty had the high mark for the Pride with 11 kills in the team's match two sweep of USJ. Schulte and Meg Adams (ware, Mass.) shared team-high honors with nine digs and Butt had three blocks for the second straight match.
USJ was led by five kills from Torrie Epps and 11 digs each by Jasmine Buckley and Carly Ruzbasan.
Set one proved to be the only competitive one of the match. A Rachel Bartels (Edinburg, Texas) kills put the Pride ahead early but five straight points lifted the Blue Jays to a 9-6 lead. USJ continued to lead until Butt's two kills leveled the score at 14-14. The Pride would have to find it within itself to twice more rally from three-point deficits, the second involving seven straight points to end the set and take a 1-0 set lead.
The rest of the match would be little trouble for Regis. Adams won eight straight points off her serve to give her team a 21-9 lead as the Pride coasted to a set two win. Regis trailed 6-4 in set three before back-to-back blocks from Butt highlighted a 7-0 run and put the Pride in the drivers seat. USJ would only find two more points in the rest of the set as Regis completed the trimatch sweep.
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