NASHUA, N.H. - For the first time in a long time, Regis College defeated Rivier University, 3-1 (25-20, 25-27, 25-21, 25-19), Wednesday night in a Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) women's volleyball match at Muldoon Gymnasium, the 11th straight conference victory for the Pride.
Avery Mola (Cheshire, Conn.) led the Pride with 13 kills, plus she collected 13 digs, two service aces, and three total blocks. Kamdyn Tenorio (Irvine, Calif.) also notched a double-double with 10 kills and 18 digs, as did Ahnasia Mckinney (Chelmsford, Mass.) with 30 assists and 11 digs to go along with six kills and three block assists. Defensively, Rita Dow (Nashua, N.H.) led at the net with seven total blocks to accompany seven kills, and Aryam Serrano-Monserrate (Lake Forest, Calif.) paced the backline with 18 digs.
Rivier (15-9, 9-4 GNAC) won the first five points of the opening set, including consecutive kills by Brynn Roche, and opened a 10-3 lead. Regis responded with a 7-1 scoring run, led by Mola with two kills and a service ace, and eventually, tied the set at 14-14. The Pride would close out the first set by outscoring the Raiders, 10-4, capped by a service ace from Mckinney.
The second set was extremely close, with neither team able to gain a significant advantage until it was tied at 18-18. Regis rattled off five unanswered points, featuring consecutive service aces by Tenorio, but Rivier responded with five straight points of its own, capped by a block from Callie Nanos and Roche. Mola notched a kill to bring about set point for the Pride, but the Raiders went on to score four of the final five points of the set, punctuated by a kill from Nanos.
The third set also went back and forth until Regis scored four straight points, capped by a service ace from Serrano-Monserrate, to pull ahead, 17-14. After the Raiders closed to within one point, the Pride put together a 6-1 scoring run, led by Dow with two kills and a solo block, and then Regis took advantage of mistakes by Rivier to clinch the third set and pull ahead in the match, two sets to one.
Led by Grace Fabiano (Greenland, N.H.) with two kills and a solo block, the Pride opened a 6-2 lead early in the fourth set. The Raiders closed to within one point twice thanks to a service ace by Sofia Pawlusik and a kill by Ali Rivera. Regis held off the Rivier rally and started to create some distance in the score, eventually clinching the set and the match on a kill by Dow.
Roche finished with eight kills on 16 attack attempts without an error for a .500 hitting percentage, while Rivera also collected eight kills along with 10 digs. Ryan Hicks notched a double-double with 21 assists and 12 digs, and Pawlusik led the Raider defense with 13 digs, plus she contributed seven assists.
The win is believed to be the first for Regis over Rivier in 25 years, since a 3-0 victory Oct. 8, 1998. Since 2005, the Raiders had won 13 consecutive matches over the Pride, but Regis' victory not only snaps that streak, it also clinches a home match for the Pride in the quarterfinals of the GNAC Women's Volleyball Tournament next Tuesday, Nov. 7.
Regis College (22-7, 12-1 GNAC) heads to New London, N.H., for a GNAC tri-match hosted by Colby-Sawyer College Saturday, Nov. 4. The Pride will face the host Chargers at 11 a.m. and Albertus Magnus at 1 p.m. to close out the regular season.