Leopards top Seahawks in CCC semifinals

BOSTON, Mass. – The Wentworth women's volleyball team is headed to the Commonwealth Coast Conference Championship after sweeping the third-seeded Seahawks of Salve Regina University inside Tansey Gymnasium.

Junior Samantha Lassiter (Rogers, Ark.) used a kill and an assisted block to score the opening two points of the match, before Salve turned a 7-2 run and stole the lead, 7-4, using two kills from Nichole Karabaich (Greenlawn, N.Y.) and an ace from Madison Lee (Dover, Fla.). The hosts rattled off four unanswered points to take back the advantage and hung on despite a service ace from Erin Procter (Canton, Mass.) at the 11-11 mark. The set experienced three more ties, until junior Leah Rogoz (Woodridge, Ill.) and sophomore Makenna Salsbury (Bel Air, Md.) jumped up for a big block, and pulled the hosts away 21-19. Down but not out, Salve's Cassidy Trabilcy (Phoenix, Ariz.) forced the game into extra points, 23-23, before Karabaich gave the Seahawks a match-point opportunity, forcing a Wentworthtimeout. Out of the break, the Leopards readjusted, and prevented the Seahawks from taking set one, as a kill by Lassiter and two Seahawk miscues sealed the first set 26-24 in favor of the hosts. 

Both teams battled point-for-point in the middle frame with neither gaining more than a five-point advantage. Rogoz jumped up for a solo block to deny Andee Bender's (Lenabnon, Conn.) attack attempt, giving Wentworth a 21-16 lead, but the Seahawks quickly pulled within two (22-20) with two kills from Trabilcy. Wentworth scored the final three of four points on swings from Rogoz and Mary Zlotosch (Durham, N.H.), to take the middle set 25-21 heading into the final frame.

The Leopards hit .243 as a team in the final set, committing just three errors on 37 swings, and used an 8-2 run to take an 18-10 advantage. Salve turned a 6-2 run of their own, pulling within four points, before a WIT attack error gave the Seahawks hope, down 23-20. Zlotosch set the Leopards up for match point, and the Leopards held off any sort of comeback from Salve with a final blast from Claire Quick (Mission Viejo, Calif.).

Quick was the offensive leader for the Leopards for the second straight match, and smashed 12 kills, nine digs, and a service ace. Rogoz swung into nine kills with eight digs defensively, while classmate Lexie Cambray (Bedford, N.H.) led a strong defensive unit with 14 digs. Each player that saw court time recorded at least one dig, while Tomastik and Clouse dished out 18 and 21 assists, respectively. 

Three Seahawks reached double-digits in kills, as Karabaich, Lee, and Trabilcy all swung into a match-high of 10. Megan Parham (Tulsa, Okla.) led on defense with 14 digs, while Proctor served as Salve's primary setter with 29 of 39 team assists.

As the highest remaining seed, Wentworth (24-4) will host Roger Williams in the Championship match on Saturday at 1:00 p.m., inside Tansey Gymnasium. Salve Regina's season comes to a close with a final record of 21-9, the third best in program history.