Regis Women’s Volleyball Splits Friday Contests at Bonnie May Invite

NORTHAMPTON, Mass. – Regis College earned its second sweep in as many matches with a 3-0 victory over Bridgewater State before losing to host Smith College Friday night in non-conference women's collegiate volleyball action at the Bonnie May Invitational in Ainsworth Gymnasium.

REGIS 3, BRIDGEWATER STATE 0 (27-25, 25-23, 25-17)

Ahnasia Mckinney (Chelmsford, Mass.) stuffed the stat sheet, leading the Pride with 11 kills, 12 assists, and four total blocks, plus she collected five digs. Valerie Whalen (Stoughton, Mass.) earned seven kills and Kate Montigny (Shrewsbury, Mass.) finished with six kills, a .455 hitting percentage, and four total blocks. Makenzie Price (Birmingham, Ala.) contributed a team-high eight digs, two assists, and three service aces, while Aryam Serrano-Monserrate (Lake Forest, Calif.) and Kamdyn Tenorio (Irvine, Calif.) also picked up three service aces apiece.

Bridgewater State scored the first two points of the match on consecutive service aces by Savannah Quintal, but Regis responded with a 6-2 scoring run, capped with a block by Montigny and Mckinney. The Bears came right back with their own 7-2 scoring stretch, including a service ace and a kill from Bethany Votta, before the Pride put together a 10-3 scoring run later in the first set, led by three kills from Mckinney.

The Bears rattled off five unanswered points, punctuated by a kill and a solo block from Abigail Reardon, to serve for the set. However, the Pride extended the set thanks to a kill from Whalen and a service ace by Tenorio, and then Regis clinched the opening set with a kill by Ayla Albers (San Diego, Calif.) and a block by Albers and Montigny that landed just inside the line on the Bears' side of the court.

Regis scored five straight points early in the second set, including two kills from Mckinney, to open a three-point advantage, but the Bears came back and eventually took the lead at 11-10 on a kill by Kim Gowell. The Pride regained control of the set thanks to an 8-3 scoring run, capped by two solo blocks from Mckinney.

Bridgewater State again battled back by scoring six of the next eight points, with Reardon picking up a kill and a solo block. Rita Dow (Nashua, N.H.) notched a kill and a service ace as the Pride scored four unanswered points to create a set point opportunity, but the Bears scored three straight points to extend the second set before a kill by Whalen closed it out for Regis.

The Bears took an early 8-6 lead in the third set on a kill by Becca Whalen and a service ace from Votta, but the Pride grabbed the momentum with a 13-1 scoring run, paced by Mckinney with four kills and a block. Bridgewater State worked its way back into the set with an 8-1 scoring run, led by Julia Cabral with three kills, to close to within three at 20-17. The Pride finished off the set and the match by scoring the final five points, featuring two service aces by Kate Truog (Brookline, Mass.).

Cabral led the Bears with five kills and a match-high 12 digs, while Rachel Sebastian-Asbed also finished with five kills. Quintal accumulated 12 assists, four service aces, and six digs, but Bridgewater State was held to a .081 hitting percentage while allowing Regis to post a .217 hitting percentage and collect 13 service aces as a team.

SMITH 3, REGIS 0 (25-22, 25-15, 25-20)

Dow led the Pride offensively with six kills, while Whalen collected five kills against the Pioneers. Mckinney finished with four kills, eight assists, two total blocks, and a team-high eight digs. Serrano-Monserrate paced the Regis service game with four aces, followed closely by Tenorio with three service aces.

Regis took the early lead in the opening set, extending it to 9-6 on a block by Mckinney and Montigny as well as a service ace from Price. After the Pioneers scored three straight points to tie the set, the Pride scored five of the next seven points, including kills by Mckinney, Tenorio, and Whalen.

Smith put together an 8-2 scoring run, capped by a kill and a service ace from Olivia Smith, to pull ahead 19-16, but kills by Whalen and Mckinney brought the Pride within one point. The Pioneers held off the Pride rally to clinch the first set.

After Regis won the first two points of the second set, Smith scored nine of the next 10 points to open a six-point advantage at 9-3. The Pride closed to within three at 15-12 on a Tenorio service ace, but the Pioneers put the set away thanks to a 10-3 scoring run, receiving contributions from several players.

The home team opened the third set on a 9-2 scoring run, beginning with two kills from Olivia Teske and concluding with a service ace from Sophia Padilla. The Pride cut their deficit to four at 10-6 on a service ace by Serrano-Monserrate, but Smith answered with a 10-2 scoring run, led by Teske with a block, a kill, and consecutive service aces.

Down 23-11 after a kill by Ava Zollinger, the Pride never gave up, rattling off eight straight points that included three service aces from Serrano-Monserrate and two blocks. Padilla stopped the Regis run with a kill, and the Pioneers closed out the set and the match on a kill by Teske.

Teske nearly notched a double-double, finishing with nine kills and 13 digs along with three service aces. Three other Smith players earned five kills apiece as the team posted a .314 hitting percentage and collected 10 team blocks.

Regis College (3-4) concludes its participation in the Bonnie May Invitational Saturday, Sept. 10, against Bates College beginning at 12 p.m.