WESTON, Mass. - Regis College opened conference play in convincing fashion, defeating Saint Joseph's College, 3-0 (25-14, 25-16, 25-21), Tuesday night in a Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) women's collegiate volleyball match at Higgins Court.
Rita Dow (Nashua, N.H.) led the Pride with seven kills, a .385 hitting percentage, and four total blocks, while Kamdyn Tenorio (Irvine, Calif.) finished with six kills, 12 digs, and eight service aces to tie her career high. Avery Mola (Cheshire, Conn.) contributed five kills and three service aces, and Princesa Gonzalez (Lares, Puerto Rico) filled the libero role well, earning a career-high 12 defensive digs.
After Saint Joseph's College opened the match with a block by Greta Mackintosh and Larisa Comolli, Regis answered with a block of its own by Grace Fabiano (Greenland, N.H.) and Kate Montigny (Shrewsbury, Mass.) to start a 10-2 scoring run. The Pride continued to pull away before the Monks scored four straight points late in the first set. Regis stopped the run and clinched the set on a kill by Dow.
Led by two kills from Mola and two service aces from Tenorio, Regis scored the first six points of the second set, and then the Pride put together a 9-2 scoring run later in the set, capped by kills from Tenorio and Montigny, to open a 17-6 advantage. The Monks again fought back with five unanswered points, led by two kills and a block assist from Nadia Sixto, but Tenorio earned a kill and consecutive service aces to help the Pride score six straight points. Once again, Dow clinched the set with a kill.
Tenorio collected three more service aces as Regis again scored the first six points of the third set and eventually opened a 15-3 lead on a block by Dow and Allie Bietz (Branford, Conn.). The Monks never gave up, first putting together a 6-2 scoring run to bring their deficit back into single digits. Starting with kills by Comolli and Sixto, Saint Joseph's College rattled off a 9-3 scoring run to close to within three points at 23-20 before Regis eventually clinched the set and the match on a kill by Lauren Tuttle (Stratham, N.H.).
Comolli finished with four kills and a match-high six total blocks, while Sixto and Hanna Webster also collected four kills apiece. Kailyn Chamberlin earned 12 assists and nine defensive digs, tying for the team lead in that category along with Abby Jerome.
Regis College (9-5, 1-0 GNAC) hosts Simmons and Mitchell in the annual Regis Fest tri-match Saturday, Sept. 30, starting at 10 a.m. Saint Joseph's College (5-8, 2-2 GNAC) travels for a non-conference match at University of New England Thursday, Sept. 28, at 6 p.m. before a GNAC tri-match at Johnson and Wales Saturday afternoon.