Women's Volleyball Handles Regis, Sarah Lawrence

WESTON, Mass. – The Wentworth Institute of Technology women's volleyball team got solid performances from Emma Sanders (26 kills, 22 digs, .433 attack percentage), Kate McLane (17 kills), and Riley Schoonmaker (12 kills, seven blocks, .524 attack percentage) as the Leopards ran their win streak to three with a pair of wins in a tri-match hosted by Regis College. Wentworth defeated the host Pride, 3-1, before downing Sarah Lawrence, 3-0.

MATCH ONE:  Wentworth 3, Regis 1
HOW IT HAPPENED:

• Wentworth wasted little time taking a 1-0 lead as the Leopards blew past the Pride, 25-6, in the opening set. After the Pride cut the lead to 5-4 on a service error, the Black & Gold went on a 16-1 run to put the set away. Sanders served for 10 straight points during the run serving a pair of aces. Wentworth hit .421 in the opening frame and forced the hosts to hit -.077.
• Regis jumped out to a 12-6 lead in the second set before an attack error made it 12-7 and put Kate Koliopoulos on the service line. Koliopoulos got the Black & Gold back into it, serving six straight points to tie the set at 12-all, and included three aces. The Pride reclaimed the lead and led, 15-14, before back-to-back errors gave Wentworth a 16-15 lead. From there, Regis went on a 10-2 run to close out the set, 25-18, tying the match at 1-all.
• The Pride raced out to a 5-2 lead in the third set before an Ava Rocchio kill ignited a 14-4 run, giving Wentworth a 16-9 lead. During the run, Schoonmaker had three kills, while Sanders was on the service line for five points. Regis used a 7-1 run to pull within a point at 17-16, however, three straight points which included a kill from McLane, put the Leopards on top 20-16. Regis made it 20-17 on the next serve but Sanders responded with a pair of kills sandwiched around a Pride attack error, to make it 23-17, and Wentworth took a 2-1 lead with a 25-18 win in the third set.
• The two teams traded 4-0 runs to open the fourth set before a pair of errors gave Wentworth a 6-4 lead. Regis responded with a 4-1 spurt to take an 8-7 lead but a 6-1 Leopard run gave the Black & Gold a 13-9 lead. Holding onto a 15-12 lead, a McLane kill ignited a 7-1 run which put Wentworth on top, 22-13 after an Olivia Vaughn service ace and Wentworth closed out the match with a 25-16 win.
• Sanders recorded a double-double with 11 kills (zero errors; .440 attack percentage) and 15 digs. Schoonmaker hit .500 (7-0-14) with five blocks, McLane had nine kills, Elena Davenport added eight kills, Sarah Gehrig had four blocks, Koliopoulos served five aces and had 14 digs, Vaughn dished out 28 assists, and Amanda Zweifler had 17 digs.

MATCH TWO:  Wentworth 3, Sarah Lawrence 0
HOW IT HAPPENED:

• Wentworth picked up right where it left off, opening the match on an 8-3 run, with four points coming off two kills by Sanders and two more from McLane. Sarah Lawrence cut the lead to 10-7 but Schoonmaker and Vaughn teamed up for a block that started a 6-1 run and put the Leopards on top, 16-8. Using a 6-0 run, the Gryphons pulled back within a pair at 16-14, however, Rocchio and Vaughn teamed up for a block to start a set-ending, 9-0 run.
• After surrendering the opening point of the second set, Wentworth went on an 8-1 run, capped off by a Rocchio kill that made is 8-2. Holding a 12-6 lead, Davenport put down a kill that started an 8-1 Leopard run, which saw Sanders put down a kill to make it 20-7. A service error made it 20-8 but back-to-back kills from McLane gave Wentworth a 22-8 lead and, eventually, a 25-11 second set win.
• The third set saw Sarah Lawrence score the opening point but a Schoonmaker kill tied the game at 1-all and Zweifler stepped to the service line to serve five straight points which gave the Black & Gold a 6-1 lead. The Gryphons eventually pulled to within four (11-7) but a service error started a 4-0 spurt for Wentworth, capped off by an ace from Sanders. Three straight Sarah Lawrence points made it 15-10, however, back-to-back kills from Schoonmaker made it 17-10 and started a 7-2 run that made it 22-12. Despite Sarah Lawrence scoring the next two points, a kill from Rocchio, a service ace from Kinsey Lutz, and a kill from Sanders closed out the match.
• Sanders had 15 kills on 28 swings for a .429 clip, while also serving a pair of aces. McLane added eight kills, Schoonmaker had five kills, hit .571, and had a pair of blocks, while Rocchio and Davenport each had five kills and combined to hit .444. Vaughn had 31 assists, two aces, six digs, and two blocks, while Zweifler had 16 digs and two aces.

THE SERIES:

• Today was the 35th all-time meeting against Regis and the first-ever meeting against Sarah Lawrence.

NEXT UP:

• Wentworth is at Emmanuel on Tuesday night.

For the latest on Wentworth Athletics, follow the Leopards via social media on "X," Facebook and Instagram.