BOSTON, Mass – Sophomore Jennifer Dugan (Merrimack, N.H) lead a balanced Salve Regina attach with 15 kills, while Clare Finnican (Mattituck, N.Y.) added 11 kills of her own to propel Salve Regina to a 3-0 victory over Wentworth in Commonwealth Coast Conference action at Tansey Gymnasium.
The Leopards would hold the lead for the first play only, as the Seahawks quickly leapt out to an 8-2 lead. Despite the Leopards hitting .388 for the set, they were never able to close the gap any lower than four at 14-10. The Seahawks cruised to victory, partly by serving aggressively, opening up their largest lead as the set ended 25-16.
The Leopards would bounce back in set two. The two teams battled back and forth for the lead as Senior Nicole Wetherbee (Pembroke, Mass.) recorded her second ace of the set to put the Leopards up 16-15. The Leopards would hold the lead until extra time. Wentworth served for the match on three separate opportunities, while enjoying their last lead at 26-25. The Seahawks recorded three straight points and won pivotal set two 28-25 off an ace.
Salve Regina was able to carry their momentum into set three by stretching the lead to 13-6 before a Wentworth timeout. The Leopards continued to battle cutting the lead to as little as three points at 15-18. From that point on the Seahawk offense was too much to handle and put away the set 25-17.
Wentworth was led on offense by senior Julie Rahilly (Nashua, N.H) who tallied nine kills while junior Michelle Hobbs (Northwood, N.H.) was right behind with eight kills.
Leah Loconte (Marshfield, Mass.) led all players with 40 assists and Libero Megan Clancy (Chelmsford, Mass.) had a match high 24 digs for the Seahawks.
Shannon Ponce (San Jose, Calif.) led the Leopards with 27 assists and Sam Curran (Quincy, Mass.) led on defense with 16 digs.
Salve Regina moves to 14-13 overall and 5-2 in CCC play and will finish up at University of New England on Saturday at 1 p.m.
Wentworth falls to 8-14 (2-5) and will celebrate senior night against conference opponent Eastern Nazarene on the same day at Noon.
