WESTON, Mass. – The Regis College men's volleyball team couldn't keep up with the efficient hitting of New England Collegiate Conference opponent Endicott College as the Gulls left Higgins Court with a 3-0 (25-18, 26-24, 25-16) victory over the Pride Wednesday evening. The win, pushed the visitors to over .500 at 7-6 and 2-0 NECC and the loss dropped Regis to 2-8, 2-2 NECC.
Senior outside hitter John Osborne (Freehold, N.J.) led the Gulls offensive attack as he recorded a game-high 12 kills and a .400 hitting percentage. The junior also added four digs, two service aces and two blocks. Sophomore outside hitter Tony Riorden (Fairport, N.Y.) matched his teammate with 12 kills and led the defensive unit with five digs. Junior middle blocker Daniel Toth (Glenwood, N.J.) was a force in front of the net as he blocked a match-high nine attempted attacks.
The Pride were paced by sophomore Brett Krahl (Santa Clarita, Calif.), sophomore Marcos Aguirre (Norwalk, Calif.) and junior captain Sean Bisnett (Oxnard, Calif.) who chipped in seven kills apiece. Junior setter Zach Sindoni (Haverhill, Mass.) led the team with 24 helpers and also played stellar defense with eight digs.
As a team, Endicott hit above .400 in the first and third sets hitting .458 and .435 respectively.
After a kill from Drew Beimel (Redondo Beach, Calif.) cut the Pride deficit to three, 14-11 midway through the first set, the Gulls outscored the Pride 5-1 over the next few serves and built a 19-12 lead thanks to Regis attack errors and two kills from Daniel Toth. Both squads exchanged points throughout the remainder of the set as the guests took the first frame by a 25-18 margin.
The Gulls hitting diminished in the second set as the Pride took an early 6-3 lead thanks to a kill from Marcos Aguirre with a nifty set by Sindoni. Endicott then used four points on the next five serves to knot the score at seven apiece and forced the Pride to take a timeout. An Osborne kill made it a 12-9 Gull lead before the Pride stormed back to take a 16-14 advantage after a dual block from Beimel and Krahl. The team both kept it close throughout the set until a block by Toth and Riorden made it 24-21 Endicott.
Regis would score the next three points after a service error from Osborne, an ace that clipped the top of the net and fell in between two Gull players by Aguirre and an attack error by Jeremy Doski (Sandy Hook, Conn.) gave Regis life. On the next Pride possession, Aguirre had an attack error and Toth responded with an ace of his own to take the second stanza 26-24.
The third set was close in the beginning with the Pride knotting the score at 5-5, but the Gulls exploded and opened up an eight point lead midway through the battle. John Osborne used two service aces to open up an 18-10 lead, a lead the Gulls would never relinquish.
Regis returns to action on Saturday when they host their first dual meet of the season against conference foe Elms at 11:00 and non-conference opponent Rivier University at 3:00 p.m.