Men's Volleyball Drops Pair in California

THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. - The Regis (Mass.) men's volleyball team will be leaving California empty-handed, as the Pride fell in both matches of a double header on Saturday at the Cal Lu Fornia Invitational. The Pride was swept by Benedictine University at Mesa (25-15, 25-21, 25-20) in the first match of the day, before again being swept by California Lutheran (25-18, 25-20, 25-19). With the losses, the Pride falls to 9-11 on the season.

Against Benedictine, the Pride fell behind 6-1 early in the first set and was unable to recover the rest of the set. Regis got it close immediately following the early deficit, cutting the lead down to 7-5 on a pair of BenU attack errors and a service error, but the Pride could get no closer. After maintaining a steady lead through the middle of the set, the Redhawks went on a 7-2 run to clinch the opening set and set the tempo for the rest of the match.

The second set was much tighter than set number one, but the Redhawks were still able to prevail. With the set tied at nine, the Redhawks ripped off four consecutive points to seemingly establish a comfortable edge in the set, but the Pride responded with a mini 3-0 run of its own to keep it close after kills from Drew Beimel (Redondo Beach, Calif.) and Jeff Ramos (Pawtucket, R.I.) and a Sean Bisnett (Oxnard, Calif.) service ace. The Pride, however, was unable to tie the set or take over the lead. On four separate occasions in the waining stages of the second set, the Pride cut the deficit to one before Benedictine went on a 4-1 run up 21-20 to take a 2-0 lead in the match.

The final set served as the most competitive set of the match, featuring seven ties and four lead changes. The Pride led 8-7 in the set until the Redhawks pulled away with a 9-3 run to take a 16-11 lead. The Pride was unable to dig itself out of the hole and would drop the set 25-20.

Junior Brett Krahl (Santa Clarita, Calif.) paced the Pride offense in the match, as he recorded nine kills in the loss. Right behind the junior was local product Bisnett, who finished with eight kills. Senior setter Joe Hanrahan (Coventry, R.I.) dished out 35 assists in the setback.

In the day's second match, the Pride suffered a similar fate as they had earlier in the day, falling to the host Regals. The first set appeared as if it could go down to the wire at the midway point, as the Pride trailed by a score of just 12-10 before Cal Lutheran recorded seven consecutive points to grab a 19-10 lead. Regis responded with an 8-4 run of their own, but it proved to be much too little too late, and the Regals took a 1-0 advantage.

Another big run, this time early in the set, was the story of set two in the Pride's afternoon match. Early on, the Pride held a modest 3-1 lead, but the hosts would score 11 of the match's next 14 points to take a 12-6 lead and all but put away set two. The sides went back and forth the rest of the way until a Regis service error ended the set, giving the Regals a 2-0 lead by winning set two 25-20.

Separate Cal Lutheran 8-3 and 6-1 runs in set three put away the Pride in what proved to be the final set of the Pride's California road trip. The Pride too had a 6-1 run in the set, but could not overcome an early deficit, dropping the set 25-19. 

Bisnett and junior Marcos Aguirre (Norwalk, Calif.) each had eight kills to lead the Pride offense in the second match of the day. Hanrahan again had a strong match dishing the ball, racking up 25 assists in the loss. 

The Pride will return home to take part in New England Collegiate Conference action on Tuesday night when they host Endicott at Higgins Court. First serve is slated for 7:00 p.m.

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