Halloween Came Early for the Regents

Covina, CA--  Setters disguised as outside hitters, outside hitters playing the part of setter, and an occasional libero on the pin, that was the scene today as the Regents took on the Charter Oak Chargers.  Coach Douglas forewarned the team that they were going to be mixing up line ups and trying new things in this match, and he was true to his word.  All of the Regent players spent some time on the court as St. Lucy's swept Charter Oak 25-13, 25-15, 25-12, to stay perfect in league play.

Charter Oak got underway with a hopeful 4-0 lead.  The Regent regulars had a tough time focusing at first, dumping serves and hitting attempts into the net.  However, they erased the Charger lead by 7-7, and Sydney Bast served seven in a row to push the Regents ahead 12-7.  The Regents took control from there.  Kelsie Remige rotated in and got a quick kill, letting her presence be known.  Natalie Caro was tough at the service line, finishing the set with another hat trick of aces.  Set one went to the Regents 25-13.

Set two was a parade of St. Lucy players.  Jenna Bailey got to put in time on the right side, Brennen Miller served it up nicely for an ace, as did Alina Mota when she pushed the Regents ahead 12-4.  After establishing the lead, LaPierre took on setting duties and Juliet McClure became a pin hitter.  McClure got a kill on her first attempt, then LaPierre went right back to her, set juice, and McClure tooled the block to extend the lead to 17-5.  Caro slammed one down out of the middle and the Chargers had seen enough, calling time out trailing 9-19.  After the time out, it was Miller time, as the Freshman came in and served up her second ace of the set.  Charter Oak made a late five point push, but they had too much ground to cover for it to make a difference.  The Regents won set two 25-15.

Set three was a preview of years to come.  Despite Charter Oak's 3-0 start, the Regents were in control the entire way.  This set featured Julianna Rohrer as the libero and a combination of McClure, LaPierre and Bruchet setting.  Miller, Bailey, Franchessca D'Aquila, Loryn Carter, Rachael Cavanaugh and McClure foreshadowed what the team might look like next year and impressively demonstrated that they are ready to take over when the time comes.  Bruchet took advantage of her opportunity to play outside hitter and put down several kills, her trademark roll shot hitting the ground to put the Regents up 13-7.  Rohrer's ace serve made it a 16-8 advantage, and D'Aquila's cross court kill with authority made it 22-10 Regents.  In the end, the Chargers could not keep pace with any combination of St. Lucy players.  Final score, Regents 25, Chargers 12.

The stat leaders for the day were many.  Juliet McClure (3 aces, 33 assists, 2 kills), Brennen Miller (3 aces, 4 digs), Franchessca D'Aquila (6 kills). Loryn Carter (8 kills), Natalie Caro (3 aces, 4 kills), Roni LaPierre (10 kills, 5 assists, 1 ace, 1 block), Sarah Bruchet (6 digs, 3 kills), Sydney Bast (3 aces, 5 digs, 3 kills) and Jenna Bailey (3 kills, 4 digs).