SPRINGFIELD, Mass. – Bentley defeated Saint Anselm 3-1 and Molloy 3-0 on the first day of the IVHOF East Region Clash on Friday afternoon. With the wins the Falcons have won four of their last five matches and improved to 6-3 on the season.

Bentley 3, Saint Anslem 1 (25-19, 25-7, 24-26, 25-17)

The Falcons defeated Northeast-10 rivals Saint Anselm in their first match of the day in a non-conference tilt. Bentley won the first two sets, including a dominant 25-7 win in the second set. They were edged out in the third set 26-24 before they finished off the match in the fourth set, 25-17.

Junior Rachel Vitko had a strong match with 14 kills and a .423 hitting percentage. Freshman Lauren Hallas had 19 assists and Natalie Thom notched 11 assists.

Bentley hit an impressive .371 as a team in their dominant second set win with 14 kills and just one attacking error. After Saint Anslem won the opening point Bentley reeled off six straight points.

A kill by Vitko on Saint Anselm's serve gave the Falcons a 10-4 lead. Bentley then won 11 straight points with Ali Stuessi serving the entire way to take a 20-4 lead in the game.

The third game was much more even with Saint Anselm taking the final three points to win it 26-24.

Bentley then put the match away in the fourth set. A 6-0 run to take the score from 14-11 to 20-11 was the difference. The final two points of the match were a kill by Ingrid Murphy and an attacking error by Saint Anselm.

Bentley 3, Molloy 0 (25-19, 25-18, 25-13)

Vitko had another big match with 15 kills and a.444 hitting percentage as Bentley swept Molloy. Thom and freshman Elliet Manning each had 16 assists in the win and Elizabeth Blinn had six block assists.

Bentley started strong with a .326 hitting percentage in the first set. Vitko had nine of her kills in the opening set and hit .750.

In the middle of the second set Bentley used a 5-0 run to create separation and open up a 16-8 lead. Murphy had four straight kills during the run.

The Falcons then completed the sweep in the third set behind a balanced attack. Ellie Wheeler led the way with four kills and Manning had eight assists in the set.

Bentley will play its final match at the IVHOF East Region Clash on Saturday against Holy Family at 11:30 AM.