PORTSMOUTH, N.H. – NHTI Volleyball concluded its 2026 regular season Wednesday evening with a straight-set victory over Great Bay Community College, defeating the Herons 26-24, 25-21 and 25-11 at the Student Success Center.
The victory moves the Lynx to 12-4 overall and 8-4 in Yankee Small College Conference play, securing a third-place finish in the YSCC East standings ahead of the beginning of next week's conference postseason.
Wednesday's result also continued NHTI's perfect history against Great Bay. The Lynx improved to 8-0 all-time against the Herons dating back to their first meeting Sept. 26, 2023, having won all 24 sets played between the two programs. NHTI has now recorded four sweeps in Concord and four in Portsmouth.
Sophomore captain Brooke Kelly (Nottingham, N.H.) led NHTI with a match-high 13 kills on 27 attempts, hitting .259 while adding a match-high 19 digs, two service aces, one solo block and one block assist. Kelly finished with a match-high 16.5 points.
Esther de Souza Quina (Juiz de Fora, Minas Gerais, Brazil) delivered a strong all-around performance, recording nine service aces, 21 assists, six kills and seven digs. De Souza Quina committed just one attack error on 12 attempts, finishing with a match-high .417 hitting percentage and 15 points.
The opening set proved to be the closest of the evening, with NHTI edging Great Bay 26-24 to take an early advantage. The Lynx followed with a 25-21 victory in the second before closing the match with a decisive 25-11 win in the third to complete the sweep.
NHTI finished with 33 kills on 89 attempts, committing 16 attack errors for a .191 hitting percentage. The Lynx also recorded 29 assists, 17 service aces and 46 digs while holding Great Bay to 15 kills and a .026 hitting percentage.
Emma Kowalski (Atkinson, N.H.) contributed seven kills on 19 attempts, hitting .263 while adding three assists and a service ace. Sophomore captain Brooke Hurlbert (Franklin, N.H.) and Haven Schwartz (Buxton, N.C.) each added three kills, with Schwartz recording 11 digs and two service aces.
Great Bay was led by Gabby Dale, who finished with 10 kills, eight service aces and eight digs. Autumn Loving added a team-high 11 digs and three service aces for the Herons, who conclude conference play at 4-8.
The victory marked NHTI's 11th straight-set win of the season and completed a regular-season sweep of Great Bay, having also defeated the Herons 3-0 on Sept. 30 in Concord.
Kelly concludes the regular season with a team-high 174 kills, averaging a YSCC-leading 3.55 per set. She also leads the conference with 0.63 blocks per set and has recorded 173 digs on the season.
De Souza Quina finishes the regular season with 328 assists and a team-high 47 service aces, averaging 6.31 assists and 0.90 aces per set. Her 59 kills and 155 digs have also contributed to NHTI's offensive and defensive production throughout the season.
As a team, NHTI concludes the regular season with 490 kills, 441 assists, 176 service aces and 937 digs. The Lynx finished third in the YSCC East behind Southern Maine Community College (11-1) and Central Maine Community College (10-2).
UP NEXT
NHTI will travel to Central Maine Community College next week for the YSCC East Division Quarterfinals. Additional matchup details will be announced when available.
