Wheaton College (MA)

STANDISH, Maine -- The Wheaton College (Mass.) women's volleyball team swept Regis College 3-0 (25-19, 25-16, 25-15) behind first year Ashlan Tosadori's (Butler, Pa.) 12 kills on .333 hitting in game one of the tri-match at Saint Joseph's University (Maine).

The Lyons improved to 9-16 overall with the win while the Pride fell to 21-6 with the loss. 

Tosadori had the most volume in terms of offensive output for Wheaton, but senior Mary Caroline Mazzanti (New Orleans, La.) was the most efficient as she took home nine kills on .444 hitting. Junior Katie de la Pena (Little Rock, Colo.) had six kills on eight attempts while first year Eliana Inch (Mechanicsburg, Pa.) had four kills on .300 hitting. Senior Ajsa Orbán (Budapest, Hungary) and junior Elena Timo (Bourne, Mass.) split the setting duties to the tune of 13 and 12 assists respectively while senior libero Jackie Hochberg (Tampa, Fla.) had 13 digs to lead the floor.

Regis was led by senior opposite hitter Grace Fabiano (Greenland, N.H.) as she finished with eight kills on .095 hitting. Senior Avery Mola (Cheshire, Conn.) sophomore Eva Catalanotto (Cheshire, Conn.) both finished with six kills while junior Alexandra Rivera (Bristol, Conn.) finished with 10 assists. Sophomore libero Gwen Arnold (West Hartford, Conn.) led her team with seven digs.

The Pride opened the match with three straight errors, while two Mazzanti kills quickly propelled them to a 10-7 lead. Wheaton left the door open with four errors of their own, and the opening set got knotted up at 12-12. Wheaton found the floor to stay ahead, but Mola answered with a kill of her own to keep the score level. De la Pena pounded home the response which Inch continued with back-to-back kills. Tosadori capped off the 4-0 run with a kill of her own and the Lyons took a 17-14 lead. Mazzanti and Tosadori kept the Regis defense twisted as each fired home three kills down the stretch from opposite sides of the net. Wheaton closed out the set with a 3-0 run and clinched the opening set 25-19.

Inch opened up the second set with a kill, but the Pride were boosted by kills from Catalanotto and Mola kept the score even up to a 6-6 deadlock. Tosadori answered back with a big kill which sparked a 6-2 scoring run for Wheaton. Tosadori picked up two additional kills across that stretch to help the Lyons take an 11-8 lead. Mola was at the center of a 3-0 run for Regis that flipped the lead around to a 14-13 Pride advantage, but a 6-0 run for the Lyons washed the spurt away. Regis scrounged up two more points, but another 6-0 run highlighted by kills from Tosadori and de la Pena clinched the second set 25-16. 

Mola opened up the third set with a kill for Regis to help propel her side to an early 4-2 lead. Wheaton responded with a 4-0 run, but a 5-0 run for the Pride preserved their lead. Tosadori built off two Regis errors with a kill to tie the set at 9-9. The Lyons kept progressing as they linked together an 8-2 scoring run to take an 18-13 lead. De la Pena had two more kills as the Lyons exploded for another 6-0 run late in the frame to put her side on match point at 24-14. A Wheaton service error only prolonged the inevitable as Tosadori slammed a kill down to take the final set 25-15 and secure the sweep. 

The Lyons will return to action immediately as they shift their focus to the hosting Saint Joseph's University (Maine) Monks for a 3:00 pm first serve. Regis will head home and prepare for a home game against Regis on Tuesday at 7:00 pm.