Volleyball Sweeps Curry, St. Joseph (CT) at Home Saturday

QUINCY, Mass. - The Eastern Nazarene College women's volleyball team blanked Curry 3-0 in both teams' Commonwealth Coast Conference opener before topping the University of Saint Joseph (CT) 3-0 Saturday afternoon at the Lahue Physical Education Center. The Lions improve to 9-3 overall and 1-0 in league matches with the wins. The Colonels move to 7-2 on the year after defeating the Bluejays, 3-1, who sink to 1-8 overall.

Kortney Jenkins (Bunker Hill, W.V.) led three Eastern Nazarene players in double figures with 18 kills on the day while Dana Day (Coarsegold, Calif.) and Cayla Clinkscale (Winchendon, Mass.) tallied 16 and 15, respectively.

Day added 17 digs on the afternoon for the Lions as Kori Sorenson (Quincy, Mass.) totaled a team-high 27. Ruby Apineru (Colorado Springs, Colo.) chipped in with 17 digs and Sam Losano (Elverta, Calif.) posted 15.

Birdina Tuiava (Colorado Spring, Colo.) registered 58 assists and nine aces in the two matches for the hosts. Clinkscale and Tuiava each recorded seven blocks for the Lions.

Eastern Nazarene fell behind early in the first match of the day against Curry. The Lions trailed 4-2 before claiming a 6-5 lead. After six ties, the home team opened up a three-point margin, 15-12, but the Colonels rallied to level the opening set at 15-15.

Eastern Nazarene closed out the first frame on a 10-4 run to prevail 25-19.

The Lions controlled the lead throughout the second game, grabbing a double-digit advantage at 19-9. Eastern Nazarene captured a 13-point victory in the set, 25-12, to claim a 2-0 edge in the match.

The hosts continued their momentum in the third game, seizing the lead early in the set as they sprinted out to a 9-3 advantage. The Lions would not relinquish the lead as they rolled to their first conference victory of the season.

In the second match of the day, Curry rebounded to notch a 3-1 win over the University of Saint Joseph.  The Colonels took set one 25-22 before falling 25-23 in the second frame. Curry bounced back to triumph in the final two sets 25-15 and 26-24.

Eastern Nazarene posted a 10-point span early in the third match on the afternoon, 17-7. The Lions held off the Bluejays to notch a 25-17 win in the first game.

The hosts tallied 18 unanswered points to begin the second stanza, including three aces by Losano. Eastern Nazarene cruised past the University of Saint Joseph in the set, 25-5.

The Lions fell behind 19-13 in the third game as the visitors went on a 5-2 stretch. Eastern Nazarene answered with a string of five points to narrow the deficit to one, 19-18.

Down the wire, the final seven points were closely contested but the hosts chalked up five points to secure their eighth sweep of the fall.

The Lions remain at home as they welcome Roger Williams, the defending Commonwealth Coast Conference champion and preseason favorite, to the Lahue Physical Education Center September 18.