Women’s Volleyball Sees Rally Fall Short at ENC

QUINCY, Mass. – Regis College rallied from a 2-0 deficit to force a deciding fifth set, but Eastern Nazarene College quickly took control of the final set to pick up a 3-2 (25-15, 25-19, 18-25, 24-26, 15-5) victory Thursday night in a non-conference women's collegiate volleyball match at the Lahue Athletic Center.

Avery Mola (Cheshire, Conn.) notched a double-double with 13 kills and 12 digs, as did Kamdyn Tenorio (Irvine, Calif.) with 10 kills and 12 digs, plus she earned five service aces. Ahnasia Mckinney (Chelmsford, Mass.) dished out 29 assists, Rita Dow (Nashua, N.H.) posted four blocks to go along with six kills, and Aryam Serrano-Monserrate (Lake Forest, Calif.) paced the defense with 14 digs.

After taking the first two sets, Eastern Nazarene won the first three points of the third set thanks in part to two service aces by Telma Zelaya, but Regis quickly responded with eight unanswered points, led by Tenorio with a kill and consecutive service aces. The two teams basically traded points the rest of the third set, with the Pride closing it out on a kill by Dow.

Mola earned a service ace to give Regis a 6-4 lead in the fourth set, but the Lions scored four straight points, including two kills by Maria Clarabuch, to pull ahead 8-6. Later in the set, Eastern Nazarene went on a 6-1 scoring run to take a 23-20 lead, but the Pride responded with their own 6-1 scoring run to clinch the fourth set, led by Mola with two kills and a block assist.

Eastern Nazarene (19-2) immediately ran out to a 9-1 lead in the fifth set, starting with consecutive service aces by Amanda Pierce and capped by back-to-back kills from Shantte Siliezar. The Lions went on to score four of the final five points of the match, including kills by Siliezar and Piper Bolner as well as a service ace from Annika Schmitt.

Clarabuch led the Lions with 17 kills, plus she earned 11 digs for a double-double, while Siliezar finished with 12 kills, a .500 hitting percentage, and five total blocks. Zelaya also notched a double-double with 43 assists and 13 digs, Eliana Baran contributed 11 kills, two service aces, four total blocks, and nine digs, and Pierce led all players with 18 digs.

Regis College (16-7) heads to Chicopee, Mass., for a Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) tri-match, facing Dean College at 1 p.m. and host Elms College at 3 p.m.