REGION CHAMPS! Monroe Mustangs Women’s Volleyball Sweeps Harford to Claim Eighth Straight Region Cha

BEL AIR, Md., October 26, 2018 – For the eighth year in a row, the Monroe College Mustangs women's volleyball team claimed the 2018 Regional Championship crown, defeating Harford Community College in three sets Friday evening to advance to the District L/M Championship Tournament. Monroe's run stretches all the way back to 2011, the first year of Head Coach Nephtali Delgado Reyes' tenure at the helm of the Mustangs women's volleyball program. The run has continued through Monroe's transition from NJCAA Div. II to Div. I, including the team's first Div. I Regional Championship over Harford in 2014. The Fighting Owls picked up the first point of the evening, but the Mustangs then rattled off six straight points to go up by five early in the first set. The Mustangs' momentum rolled on, as they jumped out to a 15-4 advantage. Things never turned around for the home team in the first frame, as the Mustangs finished things up with a 25-8 win to go up, 1-0. The second set started off much tighter than the first, setting the Mustangs lead by just one at 8-7. After the Mustangs took an 11-8 lead, Harford scored the next three in a row to knot things up at 11-11. After a 12-12 draw, Monroe picked up three points for a 15-12 edge, but Harford made it a one-point game shortly after at 16-15. An 18-16 Mustang lead quickly became a 21-17 advantage for the visitors, looking to go up two sets in the match. The Fighting Owls picked up one more point before Monroe pushed it to set point at 24-18. Harford tallied one more, but Monroe closed things out with a 25-19 win for a two-set advantage. The Mustangs galloped out to a 7-0 lead in the third stanza and never looked back. The lead stretched to 13-5 before the Mustangs went on another big run to almost put the match on ice. Monroe picked up 10 points in a row to go up, 23-5, before Harford halted the run. The Mustangs picked up where they left off, grabbing the final two points for a 25-6 victory to close out a three-set win. Three different Mustangs produced double-digit kills in the win. Karla Figueroa led the way with 14 kills, while Maria Camila Salazar and Giulia La Longa matched with 12, impressively hitting .647 and .600, respectively. Maryorie Cruz Baez dished out a team-high 21 assists, while Daline Rios gave out 15 of her own. Nashally Eleutiza picked up a team-best 20 digs, while Figueroa added 12. Figueroa, Baez and Rios each served up an ace in the win. The Mustangs have officially qualified for the 2018 NJCAA District L/M Championship Tournament, which will be hosted by Wallace State Community College-Hanceville in Hanceville, Ala. The tournament will begin next Friday, Nov. 2. A full tournament schedule will be announced once the field has been set.