Pride Advance to GNAC Championship Match

WESTON, Mass. – Second seed Regis College defeated sixth seed Saint Joseph's College, 3-0 (25-17, 25-22, 25-23), Thursday night in a semifinal match of the 2023 Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) Women's Volleyball Tournament at Higgins Court.

With the victory, Regis advances to the championship match of the tournament Saturday, Nov. 11. Thanks to Lasell's 3-1 victory over top seed Simmons, the Pride will host the fourth seeded Lasers in the title contest starting at 1 p.m. at Higgins Court.

Kate Montigny (Shrewsbury, Mass.) led the Pride offensively with nine kills on a .500 hitting percentage, while Regis' other five main hitters all finished with five kills apiece. Two of those hitters, Kamdyn Tenorio (Irvine, Calif.) and Avery Mola (Cheshire, Conn.), paced the team defensively with 11 digs apiece, with Mola also leading Regis with four service aces, and Ahnasia Mckinney (Chelmsford, Mass.) adding 18 assists and nine digs.

In the first set, Regis opened a 6-3 lead before kills by Nadia Sixto and Kailyn Chamberlin pulled the Monks within one point. The Pride responded with an 11-3 scoring run, led by Mola and Rita Dow (Nashua, N.H.) with two service aces apiece. Regis would clinch the first set on a solo block by Montigny.

Thanks to three consecutive kills by Maggie Sylvester, Saint Joseph's College took an early 6-2 lead in the second set. After back-to-back kills by Mola later in the set, Sylvester again hit three kills in a row to extend the Monk lead to 18-12.

Two service aces by Mola helped close the Pride deficit to 18-16, but Saint Joseph's College increased its lead back to four at 20-16 on a service ace by Allison McMullen. The Pride would rally back thanks to a 9-2 scoring run that closed out the second set, with the final two points coming on a block by Montigny and Grace Fabiano (Greenland, N.H.) and a kill by Mola.

The Pride took their momentum into the third set, scoring the first five points and eventually opening a 10-4 lead on consecutive service aces by Toni Ondris (Mineola, N.Y.). The Monks battled back with five straight points, led by two kills from Ava Brownsword, but Regis put together an 11-4 scoring run to extend its lead back to eight points at 22-14.

Saint Joseph's College (15-16) did not give up, going on a 9-2 scoring run, including four straight points on opportunities for Regis to close out the match. Montigny finally clinched the set and the match for the Pride with her ninth and final kill of the night.

Victoria Briones led the Monks with 11 kills, while Sylvester finished with eight kills. McMullen led her team at the service line with three aces, and Abby Jerome paced the Monk defense with a match-high 15 digs.

Regis College (26-7) improves its school-record win total and will appear in the GNAC title match for the first time since joining the league in 2017. The Pride defeated Lasell, 3-1, on Oct. 25.