WESTON, Mass. – The Regis College men's volleyball team hosted Mount Ida College and Southern Vermont College in a tri-match on Saturday afternoon in Weston, Mass. The Pride (0-4, 0-2 NECC) dropped the day's opening match, 3-1, to Mount Ida (4-6), 25-15, 25-17, 20-25, 25-22) and fell to SVC, 3-0, by set scores of 25-6, 25-13, 25-9 in a New England Collegiate Conference matchup to end the day.
After dropping the opening set 25-15, the Pride responded in game two by taking an early 9-5 lead following a Joe Coye (Plaistow, N.H.) kill. Three-straight errors by the Mustangs helped give the Pride a 14-8 lead before the Mustangs went on a 5-0 run of their own, including three kills from Spencer Hastings (Orlando, Fla.), to make it a 14-13 game and force a Regis timeout. Back-to-back errors by the Pride gave the Mustangs a 16-15 lead and Mount Ida never looked back, finishing the game on an 8-2 run to win the second set, 25-17.
The Pride raced out to an early 8-4 lead in the third set following a kill from Alex Caliendo (Windsor, Conn.), but the Mustangs would not be deterred as a Ryan Furlow (Milford, Conn.) kill made it an 11-9 game. The teams traded possessions and after a passing error by Mount Ida, the Mustangs were forced to call a timeout trailing 18-16. Regis kept the Mustangs at bay on a pair of kills from Coye and his service ace sealed game three, 25-20.
Mount Ida was the aggressor in the fourth set as they jumped out to an early 5-2 lead. The Pride battled back into the contest and tied it at 11-all following a Dave Amicangioli (Belmont, Mass.) service ace and a passing error by the Mustangs. Mount Ida scored five of the next six points to stretch its lead out to 16-12 and the teams traded points until another Amicangioli service ace made it a one point deficit at 21-20. Joe Coye made it a 22-21 game with his 11th kill of the contest, but the Mustangs took advantage of several Pride errors down the stretch to hang on for the 25-22 win.
Coye posted a game-high 11 kills and added three service aces, eight digs, and four blocks. Dave Amicangioli handed out 15 assists and added 12 digs, while Alex Caliendo posted three kills and seven digs.
The Mustangs were led by nine kills from Nick Melillo (North Haven, Conn.), while Spencer Hastings added eight kills. Brady Rodriguez (Longwood, Fla.) dished out a game-high 29 assists and added seven digs, while Ricky Oliveira (New Bedford, Mass.) posted a team-best 10 digs.
In the second match of the day, the Mountaineers of Southern Vermont College were the victors over Mount Ida, 3-0 after set scores of 25-17, 25-22, and 25-18.
After an early 2-2 tie, SVC scored five straight points and went on a 12-3 run to push their lead to 14-5 after a Keven Walley (Pico Rivera, Calif.) service ace. Back-to-back kills by Ryan Furlow and Spencer Hastings and an attack error on SVC saw Mt. Ida narrow the lead to 17-12. Unfortunately for the Mustangs, the Mountaineers were able to respond and would later rattle off four-straight points to close out set one, 25-17.
In set two, both teams exchanged points early, but Southern Vermont began to pull away. It looked like they might run away with the set, but three unanswered kills by Spencer Hastings would keep things interesting. A Mountaineer timeout proved to be a momentum changer, as Mt. Ida gave up four straight points off of attack errors. Southern Vermont was able to close out the set down the stretch, 25-22.
Set three was much of the same story, as SVC once again proved to be too much for the Mustangs to handle. Hastings recorded one of his five kills of the set to knot the game at 8-8, but it would be as close as the Mustangs would get. Walley recorded four of his nine kills of the match following the 8-8 mark to lead SVC to the set win, 25-18, and the ultimate 3-0 victory.
Walley finished with one dig and one service ace to go along with his team-high nine kills for the Mountaineers. Anthony Barahona (Las Vegas, Nev.) had five kills, six digs, and a game-high four blocks. Sophomore Herson Canta (Los Angeles, Calif.) also chipped in with 19 assists for Southern Vermont.
The Mustangs were led by Hastings and the freshmen duo of Justin Rhoden (Corona, Calif.) and Brady Rodriguez. Hastings would finish with a match-high 15 kills to go along with his four digs. Rhoden was close behind with 11 kills of his own, while he also added one dig and one block. Rodriguez recorded seven digs, one block, and a match-high 38 assists.
Regis and Southern Vermont met in the final match of the day in a New England Collegiate Conference matchup. Southern Vermont received eight kills from Caleb Odom, while Joey Dighton added six of his own in the win. Herson Canta dished out 25 assists and Anothony Barahona led the SVC defense with seven digs.
The Pride was led by Joe Coye's nine kills, while Dave Amicangioli picked up eight digs and 11 assists. Alex Caliendo and Chris Ibasco (Hopkinton, Mass.) also added five digs apiece.
The Crimson and Gold return to action on Wednesday night when they travel to Lesley University for an NECC contests against the Lynx at 8:00 p.m. Mount Ida travels to Johnson and Wales next Saturday for a 1:00 p.m. matchup in GNAC action, while Southern Vermont take on Lesley on Tuesday night in an 8:00 p.m. game.