ROCKFORD, Ill. - The Rockford University women's volleyball team (0-1) came up just short in a heated battle with the Beloit College Buccaneers (1-0) in the first athletic event this school year. It was a game of streaks as each team went on runs for all 5 sets. This was the Regents first time seeing Beloit College since 2019, where they ended up winning confidently with a 3-1 victory. Stumbling through the first 2 sets, the Regents pulled themselves together and won the next two sets to force a 15 point, winner take all 5th set. It was looking good for the Regents, going on a 10 point run in the 5th, only 4 points from victory, but a stunning surge found the Regents unable to finish the job, losing the final set 15-13.

Match (18-25, 22-25, 25-18, 25-21, 15-13)

• Beloit College opened scoring with a 5 point run due to 3 kills and a couple of Regent attacking errors.
• It was a back and forth battle, with an ace from Nicole Eggers for the Regents second point, then trading points up until another Beloit College run for 4 points, putting them in a comfortable 14-6.
• Multiple back and fourths again between the two teams saw the Regents creep up to the Buccaneers, cutting the lead to 7 with the score at 20-13.
• The Regents would make a last ditch effort to catch up thanks to a few Beloit errors and an ace by Melody Moreno.
• A service error would give the Regents the serve on Beloit's set point, but were unable to capitalize as they dropped the first set of the season 25-18.

• Looking to bounce back and even the set count, another ace by Melody Moreno would help lead the Regents to a 7-6 lead, before a 4 point Beloit run would hold the Regents out of the lead until the 31st point of the set.
• The Regents would go from being down 15-12 to pulling ahead 21-17 after Della Crain would put up 3 aces and a kill in a 5 point Regents run that had Beloit on the ropes.
• It unfortunately was a clutch night for the Buccaneers as they would again strike back, winning 8 of the next 9 points, taking the second set, 25-22.

• The Regents would look to get themselves out of a 2-0 hole by starting the 3rd set going up 7-4.
• An eventual 3 point run by the Buccaneers would tie it at 9, followed by a 3 point run for the Regents, followed by another 3 point run by the Buccaneers, putting the score at 12-12
• The Regents would find another 5 point run on a Brynn Atwell serving streak to make the score 19-15
• Rockford would take its turn to close, landing 5 of the last 6 points to put away the Buccaneers in set 3, by a score of 25-18

• Rockford, now with a fighting chance only down a set, took off in the middle of the set on a 7 point run to take a 9-5 to an 11-9.
• Beloit would bounce back and take a 14-12 lead, only to be met with another 6 point Regent run.
• Beloit and Rockford would trade off 3 points each to make it 21-17, Rockford.
• They would then trade off 2 points each, making it 23-19
• Finally they would trade off 1 point each until Rockford would put up the 25th point on a kill by Jessica Witkowski.

• A 4 point Beloit run to start the winner take all set was finally met with some resistance, the Regents would go on to score 10 unanswered, helped along by 3 kills by Della Crain, 2 kills by Nicole Eggers, and 2 aces for Brynn Atwell, putting the score at 11-5.
• Unfortunately, Beloit responded with their backs against the wall again, scoring 10 of the next 12 points to shut the door on the Regents and sail back to Beloit, victorious in the 5th set, 15-13.

• Della Crain led the Regents with 19 kills on 40 attack attempts. 
• Jessica Witkowski finished with a team-high 31 assists. 
• Brynn Atwell led Rockford with 18 digs and tied Melody Moreno with 4 service aces

The Regents will look to bounce back when they host four teams this Friday at the Seaver Center. They will play games at 2 and 4, facing Saint Mary's College and Eureka College.