Pride Volleyball Battles Top Seed Rivier Before Falling, 3-1

NASHUA, N.H. – Regis College, the fourth seed in the GNAC Women's Volleyball Tournament, battled through four sets, but top seed Rivier University prevailed, 3-1 (25-21, 25-15, 26-28, 25-11), Thursday night in a semifinal match at Muldoon Gymnasium.

Three players tied for the team lead with eight kills each: Rita Dow (Nashua, N.H.), Kamdyn Tenorio (Irvine, Calif.), and Valerie Whalen (Stoughton, Mass.). Tenorio also collected 11 digs, with Mica van der Meulen (Colorado Springs, Colo.) pacing the squad with 16 digs and two service aces. 

Starting with two blocks, both involving Nicole Lezon, Rivier scored the first four points of the match, but Regis quickly responded with a 6-1 scoring run, led by two kills from Whalen, to pull ahead, 6-5. The Raiders answered back with their own 6-1 scoring run to retake the lead at 11-7.

Consecutive kills by Tenorio as well as two kills from Dow closed the Pride deficit to two at 19-17. Kills from Lily Blodgett and Lily Sills as well as a service ace from Anna Campbell extended the Raider lead to 22-17, but a 4-1 Pride run, capped by a service ace from Dow, brought Regis back within two at 23-21. Rivier scored the final two points of the opening set on two Pride errors.

In the second set, back-to-back kills by Blodgett and Lezon gave Rivier the early lead, and then the Raiders scored four unanswered points to extend their advantage to 10-5. Down 14-8 after consecutive kills by Blodgett, the Pride rallied back with four straight points to close to within two at 14-12.

The Raiders responded with a 5-1 scoring run, led by Blodgett with four consecutive kills, to once again open a six-point lead at 19-13. That was followed by another 5-1 Rivier run to close out the second set, punctuated by a kill from Sills.

Regis scored the first three points of the third set on kills by Kai Berning (Corvallis, Ore.) and Dow as well as a block from Dow and Whalen. Rivier responded with an 11-3 scoring run, featuring three blocks by Blodgett and Lezon, but the Pride fought back with three unanswered points to close to within two at 11-9.

Rivier scored the next four points to extend its lead to six at 15-9, but Regis responded with four unanswered points, led by Tenorio with a kill and a service ace, to once again close its deficit to two at 15-13.

After consecutive kills by Cadia Greene and Sills, the Pride put together a 9-2 scoring run to pull ahead, 22-19. The teams tied three times late in the set before kills by Kate Montigny (Shrewsbury, Mass.) and Ahnasia Mckinney (Chelmsford, Mass.) as well as a Raider attack error allowed Regis to win the third set and extend the match.

In the fourth set, Rivier took control thanks to six unanswered points, featuring three straight service aces by Campbell. Kills by Montigny and Berning brought the Pride within four, but the Raiders scored four straight points to extend their advantage back to eight at 16-8. The Raiders would go on to take the fourth set and the match.

Blodgett led all players with 21 kills and a .487 hitting percentage, plus she earned six block assists. Rivier setter Avery Pollard notched a double-double with 41 assists and 12 digs, while Campbell collected six service aces. Defensively, Lezon led the Raiders at the net with seven total blocks, Sydney Racevicius paced the backline with 19 digs, and Sofia Pawlusik added 18 digs. Rivier (21-5) will host third seed Johnson & Wales in the GNAC Tournament championship Saturday, Nov. 6, starting at 1 p.m. 

Regis College (23-8) ends the 2021 campaign with the second-most wins in a single season in program history.