Norfolk, VA - After 13 straight road contests, the Regent University Women's Volleyall team made their home debut on Monday night as they hosted Saint Mary's College of Maryland. The Road Warriors have traveled to three different states over the last month and were looking forward to finally playing in front of a home crowd. As they always have, the fans showed up and were loud throughout the match, but in the end the Royals would fall to the Seahawks by a final score of 3-0 (25-19, 25-15 and 25-22).
Regent grabbed an early 4-2 advantage in the first set and continued to battle after St. Mary's moved in front. Freshman
Mykenah Antenore (San Diego, CA) provided a late spark from the service line, delivering back-to-back aces as the Royals trimmed the deficit to 19-14. Regent continued to push down the stretch before the Seahawks secured the opening set, 25-19. In the second set, Sophomore
Brooklynn Delane (Colonial Beach, VA) recorded three kills, while Antenore continued her success with service aces, but the Royals fell behind to drop the set 25-15.
The third set saw Regent grab the momentum when Freshman
Claire Keefer (Winchester, VA) delivered a kill and eventually the Royals went out in front 5-4. Both teams traded points and fought through eight ties and five lead changes, and mid-way through the set Regent was once again ahead by a point, 13-12, after a service ace from Sophomore
Kiera Anderson (Leland, NC). However, they were not able to capitalize and fell 25-22.
Keefer led the Royals offensively with 10 kills, while Delane finished with four kills and just one attacking error. Anderson contributed three kills, six digs and an ace as Sophomore Rylee Stewart (Newport News, VA) directed the offense with 15 assists while also recording 11 digs for a double-double.
Defensively, Antenore turned in another strong performance, collecting a match-high 20 digs while adding three service aces. Sophomore Emma Kristiansen (Sparta, NJ) contributed eight digs and two solo blocks as Regent finished the evening with 53 digs and four service aces.
The Royals will be back on the road again this Friday, October 4th when they travel to the western part of the state to face Ferrum College. First serve is set for 6:30PM.
