WESTON, Mass. – For the second-straight weekend, the Southern Vermont College women's volleyball split a Saturday tri-match as the Mountaineers fell 3-0 to a hosting Regis College squad before sweeping Dean College 3-0 at Higgins Court.
SVC fell to the Pride in New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) action but bounced back to defeat the Bulldogs in non-league play.
The Mountaineers (5-17, 0-5 NECC) are next in action on Tuesday when they host Becker College for a 7 p.m. Conference tilt.
Regis 3 – Southern Vermont 0
RC won the opening match of the day with set scores of 25-15, 25-11, and 25-14.
SVC freshman Sarah Billow (South Glens Falls, N.Y.) had a team-high four kills while adding three digs on the defensive end. Classmate Tay Phillips (Stephentown, N.Y.) was right behind with three kills and a pair of service aces while senior captain Brin Goldman (St. Croix, Virgin Islands) registered a match-best nine digs to go along with her seven assists. Sophomore Lizzy Bench (St. Petersburg, Fla.) tallied six digs and an ace, and Bennington College freshman Gaby Oropeza (Riverside, Calif.) notched two kills and two digs in the effort.
Southern Vermont 3 – Dean 0
The Mountaineers split the day by sweeping Dean with straight-set scores of 25-15, 25-23, and 25-19.
Phillips exploded for a season-best 13 kills to lead all players, adding five digs to her line in the win. Goldman had another eight kills and six digs while popping up a career-best 26 assists, and Billow chipped in with six kills, five service aces, and 14 digs.
Bench registered a match-high 15 digs to along with her two kills, and Oropeza tallied 11 digs, four aces, six assists and five kills. Junior Julia Florence (Salem, Mass.) notched four kills and a pair of digs to help the Mountaineers to their victory.
The Bulldogs led 12-11 midway through the opening set, but that's went Southern Vermont stormed to a 10-1 run behind four kills, two coming from Phillips to put the Mountaineers on top by eight. Dean only got one more point the rest of the way as Billow and Goldman provided the kills needed to put away the frame.
Two-straight Oropeza service aces put SVC on top 9-3 to start the second, but the Bulldogs came back with 10 unanswered points to take the lead and force a Mountaineer timeout. Southern Vermont went on to take eight of the next 10 to regain the upper hand, and points were then traded the rest of the way. After Dean took three straight to make it a 21-20 SVC edge, the Mountaineers grabbed three of the next four to make it set-point. A Bulldog miscue would end it for Southern Vermont to go up 2-0 in the match.
Trying to prevent the sweep, Dean came out strong to take a 7-2 advantage in the early going of the third. SVC would then go on a 6-1 run, however, as kills by Phillips, Goldman, Florence and Oropeza tied it up. The Bulldogs made it a 12-12 game, only to see Southern Vermont rattle off seven-straight points for a comfortable lead; Phillips had a pair of kills in that stretch while Billow knocked across two consecutive service aces for the cushion. Dean got back within four, but SVC closed out the day with a 6-0 run that included a kill and an ace from Oropeza.
– #LetsGoSVC –