WESTON, Mass. – Regis College combined a balanced offensive effort with a solid service game to defeat Bridgewater State, 3-0 (25-13, 25-18, 25-17), Tuesday night in a non-conference women's collegiate volleyball match at Higgins Court, improving its home record this season to 9-0.
Rita Dow (Nashua, N.H.) led the Pride with 11 kills on 18 attack attempts without an error for a .611 hitting percentage, while Valerie Whalen (Stoughton, Mass.) collected nine kills on a .368 hitting percentage. Kate Montigny (Shrewsbury, Mass.) made her first career start and finished with eight kills, a .462 hitting percentage, and five total blocks, and Tyler Wax (San Diego, Calif.) paced the Pride backline with 12 defensive digs.
After allowing the first point of the match, Regis scored the next five points on three kills by Whalen and two service aces from Ahnasia Mckinney (Chelmsford, Mass.). The Pride opened a 20-7 advantage before the Bears scored four straight points, three of them on blocks. Regis rebounded to close out the set with five of the final seven points, including two more kills from Whalen.
Consecutive aces by Kamdyn Tenorio (Irvine, Calif.) allowed the Pride to open a 9-4 lead in the second set. The Bears kept the set close, eventually cutting their deficit to three at 19-16 on a kill by Abigail Reardon and a service ace from Victoria Caiano. The Pride would clinch the set with a 6-2 scoring run, led by Montigny with two total blocks and two kills.
Bridgewater State opened a 7-3 lead in the third set, capped by a block from Camille Hanna and Saadia Reid as well as a kill by Gabryella Serrano. Down 14-11, Regis gained momentum and took it the rest of the way, closing out the set and the match with a 14-3 scoring run, including the final eight points of the match punctuated by two service aces from Dow and two kills by Montigny.
Reardon and Becca Whalen led the Bears with six kills apiece, but they were held to a .059 hitting percentage. Hanna led the team with five total blocks as Bridgewater State finished with more team blocks than Regis (8-6), and Caiano paced her squad with three service aces and 16 defensive digs.
As a team, Regis posted a .301 hitting percentage, the sixth time this season they have reached that mark or higher. The Pride also finished with 10 service aces while making only five service errors as they won their 12th match of the season, equaling the win total from the entire 2019 campaign.
Regis College (12-4) faces Simmons University in a key conference contest Wednesday, Oct. 6, beginning at 7 p.m. at Higgins Court. Bridgewater State (4-5) travels to face another GNAC school, taking on Lasell Thursday, Oct. 7, starting at 7 p.m.