Women’s Volleyball Prevails in Five-Set Thriller

NEWPORT, R.I. - In a match that went back-and-forth several times, Regis College put together one final scoring run in the fifth set to defeat Salve Regina University, 3-2 (25-22, 16-25, 26-24, 24-26, 15-13), Tuesday night in a non-conference women's collegiate volleyball match at the Rodgers Recreation Center.

Avery Mola (Cheshire, Conn.) notched her sixth double-double of the season, tying her season high of 15 kills to go along with 12 digs, plus she earned two service aces and two total blocks. Alexandra Rivera (Bristol, Conn.) dished out 35 assists for the second straight match as Ayla Albers (San Diego, Calif.) and Grace Fabiano (Greenland, N.H.) earned eight kills apiece. Defensively, Kate Montigny (Shrewsbury, Mass.) led at the net with four total blocks and Kamdyn Tenorio (Irvine, Calif.) paced the backline with 15 digs to go along with six service aces.

Mola and Lucy Swanson scored the first three points of the fifth set for their respective teams with kills before Salve Regina pulled ahead on a kill by Kate Bernhardt. After a service ace by Emma Cate extended the Seahawk lead to 7-4, Regis scored the next four points, led by Fabiano with two kills and Kate Julian (Mendon, Mass.) with a service ace.

Salve Regina (5-11) retook the lead at 11-9 after kills by Lydia Daskalos and Lauren Shurling, but Albers responded with a kill and a service ace and the Pride followed with a block by Rivera and Montigny to pull ahead, 12-11. After a service ace by Shurling gave the Seahawks a 13-12 advantage, Montigny notched a kill and then Tenorio's tough serves forced two errors by the home team to close out the match in Regis' favor.

Regis took an early 6-2 lead in the opening set and then withstood a Salve Regina comeback, scoring four straight points to open a 19-12 advantage, capped by a kill from Mola and a service ace by Rivera. Down 21-14, the Seahawks rattled off seven straight points to tie the first set at 21-21.

Montigny allowed Regis to retake the lead with a kill, but Lauren Hoyle answered for the Seahawks with her own kill. The Pride closed out the first set by earning the last three points, featuring kills by Albers and Montigny.

The Pride scored the first three points of the second set, featuring consecutive service aces by Tenorio, but the Seahawks came back to pull into a 5-5 tie. After three straight points for Regis, Salve Regina put together a 7-1 scoring run, capped by consecutive kills from Daskalos, to pull ahead, 12-9.

The Seahawks scored five unanswered points to extend their advantage to 18-11 before three straight Regis points closed the gap. Salve Regina closed out the second set with a 7-2 scoring run, punctuated by a kill from Hoyle.

In the third set, a service ace by Tenorio and a kill from Albers allowed the Pride to open a 10-6 lead before the Seahawks put together a 9-2 scoring run to pull ahead, 15-12. Regis fought back to stay in the set and eventually prevailed by scoring the final four points of the set, capped by kills from Mola and Bella Karpicz (Berkley, Mass.).

Led by two kills from Albers and a block by Montigny, Regis scored the first five points of the fourth set, but Salve Regina scored the next four points and eventually tied the set at 8-8 on a service ace by Cate. The teams traded three-point runs and then went point-for-point until the Seahawks pulled ahead 17-15 on consecutive kills by Swanson.

Mola notched a kill and a service ace and Albers followed with a solo block as Regis retook the lead at 20-19, with the Pride pulling ahead 23-21 after a Tenorio service ace. The Seahawks rattled off a 5-1 scoring run to close out the fourth set, led by Swanson with three kills and a block assist, and force the deciding fifth set.

Swanson led all players with 20 kills, plus she hit .311 in the match and added three assists and eight digs, while Hoyle finished with 13 kills on a .370 hitting percentage. Siena DeCicco earned 49 assists, seven kills, and seven digs, and Lily Dobbins led her team in the backline with 15 digs.

Regis College (14-5) returns to conference play with a match at Johnson and Wales University Friday, Oct. 11, starting at 7 p.m. The Pride and the Wildcats are two of six GNAC teams currently with zero or one conference loss.