Women's Volleyball Battles Regis In Three Sets

WESTON, Mass. – The Regis College women's volleyball team picked up a 3-0 victory over Elms College in New England Collegiate Conference action on Wednesday night in Weston, Mass. The Pride (14-10, 3-0 NECC) used set scores of 25-11, 25-22, and 25-17 in the win over the Blazers (4-14, 1-3 NECC).

The Pride used six service aces to grab a 1-0 lead in the match with the 25-11 win. Talisha Ruffi (Portland, Ore.) had three of the aces, while Shay Faber (Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.) added two of her own. Rachel Bartels (Edinburg, Texas) posted a pair of kills to go with three blocks in the set.

In the second game, Elms jumped out to an 8-4 lead following a Danielle Redding (Las Vegas, Nev.) kill and a Pride error. Regis answered with four-straight points, including back-to-back kills from Sydney Trusty (Durham, Conn.) and another Ruffi ace to force an Elms timeout with the score tied 8-8.

The two teams went back and forth as two errors from Regis staked the visitors to a 12-10 lead. The Pride responded again, this time scoring six-straight points capped off by a Jackie Silver (West Hills, Calif.) kill to take a 16-12 advantage. Elms battled back and cut the deficit to 19-17 on an Ashlee Connors (Springfield, Mass.) ace and later kept it a two point game at 23-21 on a Shannon Bolton (Shelton, Conn.) kill. A Nicole Connolly (San Mateo, Calif.) kill followed by an Elms error gave the Pride the two points they would need to hang on for the 25-22 win.

Game three started out as a back-and-forth affair as Regis took a 3-1 lead before Elms went on a 6-1 run to grab a 7-4 advantage. The two teams were tied at 10-10 after a Bartels kill, and Regis went on a 5-2 run to take a 15-12 lead. A Bartels and Trusty block extended the Pride lead to 16-13, but Elms made one final push and tied the match at 17-all on a block from Bolton and Redding.

That would be as close the Blazers would get as Regis ended the game on an 8-0 run to complete the 3-0 sweep with the 25-17 win.

The Pride had 12 service aces in the match and hit .253 as a team. Nicole Connolly led the Regis attack with eight kills and seven digs, while Sydney Trusty had six kills, nine digs, and a pair of blocks. Rachel Bartels and Jackie Silver finished the night with five blocks apiece, with Bartels adding a match high seven blocks. Haley Schulte (Fullerton, Calif.) posted three kills, 24 assists, two aces, and two digs.

Elms was paced by Danielle Redding's eight kills and eight digs. Ashlee Connors added five kills, two aces, and three digs. Alex Mack (Wilbraham, Mass.), Caroline Locke (West Springfield, Mass.) and Carolyn Campbell (Millers Falls, Mass.) each recorded seven digs in the match. Shannon Bolton led Elms with 10 assists.

Regis travels to Mitchell College on Saturday afternoon for an NECC matchup with the Mariners at 2:00 p.m. Elms will host Bay Path University on Saturday afternoon as well, in a match scheduled for a 12:00 p.m. start.