REGIS SWEEPS FIGHTING SCOTS, 3-0

WESTON, Mass. – Regis College defeated Gordon College, 3-0, on Thursday night in non-conference women's volleyball action in Weston, Mass. The Pride used set scores of 25-11, 26-24, 25-23, en route to the victory.

Regis improves to 6-12 on the year and has now won two-straight, while Gordon falls to 6-8 in 2013. The Pride snapped a streak of 12-straight losses to the Fighting Scots dating back to 2001.

In the opening set, the Pride jumped out to an early 9-3 lead following a Kristina del Rey (Miami, Fla.) kill. Gordon fought their way back into the contest, scoring five of the next six points, to make it a 10-8 game after a Pride miscue. Regis answered with a run of its own, taking a commanding 17-9 lead on back-to-back kills by Sam Bliss (Framingham, Mass.). The Pride closed out the game on an 8-2 run to take game one, 25-11, as Bliss had four kills in the opening game.

Gordon led 3-1 in game two following a Joy Kimmel (Madison, Conn.) service ace, but the Pride rallied to tie it 4-4 on another Bliss kill and a Scots service error. Gordon scored three-straight points before Regis rattled off four in a row of their own, but a Jessica Burdick (Brewerton, N.Y.) kill tied the score at 8-8. Regis went on another small run to take an 11-8 lead on a Bliss kill that forced a Gordon timeout.

Out of the break, Gordon went on a 6-1 run to take a 14-12 lead following a Lauren Kranyak (Locust Grove, Va.) service ace. The Pride battled back to tie it at 14-all, and the score was tied at 20-20 after a Bliss kill. The teams traded leads, and were tied at 24-24, before a pair of Fighting Scots attack errors wrapped up game two, 26-24, for the home team.

Game three started much the same as Gordon took a 3-1 lead on a block by Lauren Kranyak, and again Regis fought back to tie the score at 4-4 on a del Rey kill. The Pride followed with a 10-3 run to grab a 14-7 lead as Regis took advantage of six errors by the Scots. Gordon answered with a quick 7-0 spurt to tie it at 14, but could not get over the hump as another Gordon error made it 15-14. The teams traded points before Regis grabbed a 20-18 lead after a Jackie Silver (West Hills, Calif.) kill.

Gordon had an answer again as a Pride error and back-to-back kills from Laura Schmidt (Stuart, Fla.) made it a 21-20 contest. A pair of Bliss kills sandwiched a Vanessa Noesi (Puerta Plata, D.R.) kill to put the Pride back on top 23-21, but a Pride error and a Shaylyn Roach (South Weymouth, Mass.) kill made it 24-23. Regis closed the door when Vanessa Noesi notched her eighth kill of the contest to send the Pride home with the 3-0 victory.

Sam Bliss notched a game-high 12 kills and added seven digs to lead the Pride. Kristina del Rey added nine kills of her own, while Jackie Silver had seven kills, eight digs, and three total blocks. Defensively, Noesi had three blocks, while Sara Gold (North Hollywood, Calif.) had a game-high 16 digs in the win. Marilia Ramos (Chimbote, Peru) set up the Pride offense with a match-high 36 assists.

Gordon was led by 10 kills from Laura Schmidt and six kills from Shaylyn Roach. Jessica Burdick and Faith Gerdes (Wall Lake, Iowa) registered four kills apiece. Lauren Kranyak dished out 24 assists, while Maggie Risma (Hudson, Ohio) led Gordon with 11 digs on the night.

The Pride return to conference action on Saturday night when they travel to Southern Vermont College for a 7:00 p.m. NECC contest. Gordon will host Anna Maria College on Saturday afternoon in an 11:00 a.m. non-conference tilt.