REGIS DROPS PAIR OF GAMES TO WPI AND MIT

WESTON, Mass. – Regis College fell to MIT and WPI by matching scores of 3-0 on the final day of the Regis Pride Invitational on Saturday in Weston, Mass. Regis wraps up the weekend with a 1-3 overall mark on the season. MIT was named the Invitational Champion after posting a perfect 4-0 mark in the tournament while WPI was named the Tournament runner-up.

The Regis Pride Invite All-Tournament team featured athletes from all five teams in the tournament. Suffolk's Maggie Hillman (North Andover, Mass.), Worcester State's Megan Brown (Dartmouth, Mass.), WPI's Kerrin Beovich (Seaford, N.Y.), Regis' Jackie Silver (West Hills, Calif.) and MIT's Kelly Schulte (Riverside, Calif.) were all named to the All-Tournament team while MIT's Katie Spielbauer (Lakeview, Mich.) was named the tournament's Most Valuable Player.

In game one of the day for Regis, the Pride faced a tough matchup with MIT, already 2-0 in the Regis Pride Invitational. MIT jumped out to an early 7-2 lead capped off by a Kelly Schulte ace which forced a Regis timeout. The Pride would get as close as four on a solo block by Jackie Silver before the Engineers stretched their lead to 18-9 on a Katie Spielbauer service ace, prompting a second Pride timeout. Regis would only score four more times in the first game as MIT ran away with game one 25-13.

Set two saw the Pride match scores with the Engineers all the way up to 10-8 when Regis capitalized on a service error by MIT's Nicole Gagnier (Atlanta, Ga.). However, MIT responded to the threat and finished the set on a 15-4 run to pick up the win in the second game.

Game three was very similar to the middle set of the matchup as Regis trailed 9-8 following a solo block by Vanessa Noesi (Methuen, Mass.). The Engineers would start to pull away following a Regis timeout but a Noesi kill capped off a 4-0 run and closed the gap to 16-14. MIT would respond yet again with a 9-4 run to end the game and finish off the Pride, 25-18.

Regis was led by four kills and 2.5 total blocks from Vanessa Noesi while Julie Endara (Boca Raton, Fla.) and Domingas Gomes (Brockton, Mass.) chipped in with two kills apiece. Megan Pratt (Rockland, Mass.) handed out a team-high five assists while Endara chipped in with 11 digs and Sara Gold (North Hollywood, Calif.) added eight of her own.

The Engineers were paced by five kills from Rachel Hunt (Arlington Heights, Ill.) and four kills and three digs from Tatiana Berger (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.). Natasha Jensen (Columbia, Md.) added four digs while Sharon Hao (San Jose, Calif.) added three of her own. Hao and Jenny Astrachan (Austin, Texas) combined to dish out 18 assists while Nicole Gagnier added five of her own. The Engineers had a trio of players pick up three service aces each in Tatiana Berger, Kristine Bunker (Falmouth, Mass.) and Kelly Schulte. Cecily Joujon-Roche (Laguna Hills, Calif.) and Bunker combined to post six blocks in the win.

The road did not get any easier for the Pride in their second game of the day against WPI. Regis matched the Engineers point for point, tying the score at 10-10 on a Kristen Amicangioli (Belmont, Mass.) kill, before WPI went on an 8-3 run to extend an 18-13 lead on a kill by Kerrin Beovich. Regis would get as close as 22-16 before WPI took game one, 25-18.

In set two, an Anneliese Harris (Holliston, Mass.) kill cut the WPI lead to one at 11-10 before a solo block by Jackie Silver knotted the game at 17-all. WPI would respond with a 4-0 run to extend their lead to 21-17 and following a Regis timeout, finished off the Pride in game two, 25-19. In the final set, the Engineers raced out to a 11-3 lead capped off by an Alyssa Corini (Pompton Plains, N.J.) service ace to start the game. The Pride would claw their way back to a 23-15 deficit before WPI ended game three, 25-16.

The Engineers were led by eight kills and three blocks from Holly Ganser (Seward, Alaska) while Alyssa Corini added seven kills and six digs. Alex Rangel (Weston, Fla.) led the team with eight digs while Kim Woodward (Clifton Park, N.Y.) set up the offense with a match-high 18 assists.

Julie Endara led the Regis attack by posting five kills to go along with five digs. Domingas Gomes also added four kills and eight digs. Megan Pratt handed out 12 assists while Sara Gold had a standout game with 19 digs and a pair of service aces. Jackie Silver had a pair of kills to go along with a block in the final match of the invitational.

Regis returns to action on Wednesday night when the Pride host Eastern Nazarene in a non-conference matchup at 7:00 p.m. MIT returns to action next Friday and Saturday when the Engineers travel to Vassar College for a tournament with their first matchup against the Stevens Institute of Technology at 6:00 p.m. WPI takes the court on Thursday night when they travel to Lesley University for a 7:30 p.m. game.