WESTON, Mass. – Regis College used set scores of 25-21, 25-20, and 25-14 to power past the Lesley University women's volleyball team 3-0 tonight in a battle of the top two teams in the New England Collegiate Conference. The win propels the Pride to 19-10 overall and 7-0 in the NECC and now hold sole possession of first place in the conference. The loss drops Lesley to 14-8 on the season and 6-1 in NECC play.
Regis and Lesley battled back-and-forth to start the match as the Pride trailed 9-8 early in game one following a Jackie Silver (West Hills, Calif.) and Rachel Bartels (Edinburg, Texas) block. Lesley took advantage of four-straight Pride errors to jump out to a 14-9 lead, but a Bartels kill sparked a 7-1 run for Regis - capped off by a Caroline Fuentes (Downey, Calif.) service ace - to force a Lesley timeout with the Lynx trailing 16-15.
A Silver kill extended the Pride lead to 20-17, and they never looked back as another Silver kill ended game one with the Pride on top 25-21.
In game two, back-to-back kills from Haley Schulte (Fullerton, Calif.) and Bartels put the Pride on top 13-8 and forced another Lynx timeout. Two more kills from Bartels gave the Pride a 15-8 advantage, but Lesley would not go away. Kaylee Deluga (Dennis, Mass.) nailed a kill and then put down a service ace to cap off a 5-2 run that cut the deficit to only 17-14. The two teams traded points the rest of the game but Lesley would come no closer than three as the Pride held on for a 25-20 win.
Set three was all Regis as three Nicole Connolly (San Mateo, Calif.) aces sandwiched around a Silver kill gave Regis a 17-7 lead they would not relinquish as the Pride built leads in excess of 13 points to cruise to a 25-14 win and the 3-0 sweep of Lesley.
Haley Schulte finished with 10 kills as part of a double-double to go with 11 assists, five digs, one block, and one ace to lead to hosts. Rachel Bartels added eight kills and three blocks, while Graciella Molinari (Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.) and Jackie Silver posted seven kills apiece, with Molinari leading Regis with 10 digs. Nicole Connolly added four kills, six assists, four aces, five digs, and a pair of blocks. Crystina Lathrop (Houston, Texas) led the Pride with 18 assists.
Lesley was paced by eight kills, eight digs, and a pair of aces from Kaylee Deluga. Ciara Bruning (Centerville, Mass.) chipped in five kills, while Emily Marden (Fremont, Calif.), Anthea Rathjens (Sudbury, Mass.) and Sarah Hollis (Hudson, Mass.) had two kills apiece. Marden added 15 assists and seven digs, with Danielle McDonald (Lilitz, Pa.) posting a team-high 10 digs.
Lesley, who saw their six-game winning-streak come to a close, will look to get back into the win column on Saturday as they wrap up their regular season when they host Elms College at 6:00p. The Lynx will also celebrate their four seniors with a Senior Night celebration prior to first serve. Regis will close out their regular season schedule on Friday night when they travel to Southern Vermont College for a 5:00p match.
Release courtesy Regis College Sports Information