EASTERN NAZARENE RALLIES PAST PRIDE, 3-1

WESTON, Mass. – The Eastern Nazarene College women's volleyball team fell in the first set, but rallied past Regis College for a 3-1 (11-25, 25-20, 25-17, 25-20) victory on Thursday night in non-conference volleyball action on Thursday night in Weston, Mass. The Lions improve to 2-0 on the young season while Regis drops to 1-4 this year. The Pride were led by nine kills from Julie Endara (Boca Raton, Fla.) and 20 assists from Megan Pratt (Rockland, Mass.).

In set one, the Pride raced out to an early 14-7 lead capped off by a kill from Endara on a feed from Megan Pratt. Pratt then played a role in extending the Regis lead to 16-8 with a service ace and another assist on a Vanessa Noesi (Methuen, Mass.) kill before Domingas Gomes (Brockton, Mass.) served seven straight points, including a pair of service aces to give Regis a 24-9 lead. The Lions would only add two more points before the Crimson and Gold took game one, 25-11.

Set two was a different story as it was Eastern Nazarene who jumped out to an early lead. After the score was tied 3-3, the Lions built a 13-9 lead following a service ace by Cayla Clinkscale (Winchendon, Mass.). Regis would crawl back into the match, tying the score as late as 18-all before three points by the Lions prompted a Regis timeout. The move would work, as it led to a service error, but the Lions responded to the unforced error with four straight points to close out game two, 25-20.

The third set was similar to game two as Eastern Nazarene grabbed a 10-6 lead before Regis was forced to call a timeout. This time the Pride was not as lucky as the Lions went on a 13-7 run to extend their lead to 23-13. Regis would make a late run, forcing an Eastern Nazarene timeout following an attack error by the Lions, but it would not be enough as Eastern Nazarene took a 2-1 lead in the match with the 25-17 win.

Game number four was more of the same as Eastern Nazarene took another early lead and prompted a Regis timeout with the score 11-6. Out of the timeout, Regis would mount a comeback, as Sara Gold (North Hollywood, Calif.) recorded back-to-back service aces to make it a 17-13 game. Unfortunately for the Pride, the lead was too big to overcome as the teams traded points, but not enough in favor of Regis as the Lions came away with a 25-20 victory and a 3-1 win on the night.

Regis was led by nine kills from Endara while Vanessa Noesi added five kills and Domingas Gomes chipped in with four of her own. Pratt dished out a match-high 20 assists while Julie Endara and Domingas Gomes led the defense with 19 and 18 digs each, respectively.

For the Lions, Kortney Jenkins (Bunker Hill, W. Va.) led the offense by posting 11 kills in the win. Cayla Clinkscale and Birdina Tuiava (Colorado Springs, Colo.) combined to post nine kills while Tuiava handed out a team-high 19 assists. Defensively, the Lions were led by 21 digs from Kori Sorensen (Quincy, Mass.) while Tuiava added 16 digs of her own.

The Crimson and Gold return to action on Saturday afternoon when they travel to the campus of Massachusetts Maritime for a tri-match against Becker College and Mass. Maritime. The Pride are scheduled to take on the Buccaneers at 3:30 p.m. followed by a 5:30 p.m. match against Becker. Eastern Nazarene will also play in a tournament this weekend as a part of the UMass-Dartmouth Invitational. The Lions will take on Mount Ida at 4:00 p.m. and Cobleskill State at 6:00 p.m. on Friday night.