WESTON, Mass. - The Regis (Mass.) men’s volleyball team will travel about as far away from campus possible without leaving the continental United States later this week, as the Pride travels to Thousand Oaks, Calif. for four matches at Gilbert Arena on the campus of California Lutheran University.
The Pride will compete in the Cal Lu Fornia Invitational on Mar. 10 and 11, facing four opponents that the program has never before met. Regis opens play with a 6:30 p.m. match on Friday against UC Merced of the NAIA, followed by a 9:00 p.m. matchup with the Banana Slugs of UC Santa Cruz. The Pride will have a quick turn around the next day, taking on another team representing the NAIA, Benedictine Mesa at 12:00 p.m. on Saturday, followed by a matchup with the hosts from Cal Lutheran at 2:30 p.m. All times above are Eastern.
UC Santa Cruz should serve to be the Pride’s toughest test, as the Banana Slugs are currently ranked second in the nation. “The guys get hyped to play the top teams,” said Pride head coach Marc Turiano. “It should be a good test.”
The tournament will serve as a homecoming of sorts for nearly half of the team, as five of the Pride’s 11 players call the Golden State home.
“I’ve kind of forgotten what it’s like to play a true home match,” said Regis senior outside hitter Sean Bisnett. Bisnett, a native of nearby Oxnard, Calif., played his high school volleyball just 20 miles away from Cal Lutheran at Rio Mesa High School. His club team growing up, Spectrum Volleyball, called Gilbert Arena home. “With all our friends, families, people we’ve been playing volleyball with growing up, I think our fans might pack the gym.”
Unlike the Pride’s tennis and softball teams, which kick off their spring schedules on their respective trips, the men’s volleyball team has the difficult task of traveling right in the midst of its conference schedule. “The team is mature and has great senior leadership,” said Turiano three matches before the trip, whose team he said was doing a great job focusing on the last few conference games leading up to California. “They’ve been policing themselves.”
A team dinner hosted by the Bisnett family is in the plans for the trip away from the court, an experience Sean is greatly looking forward to. “It really is the collision of two worlds,” he said. “It’s two groups of friends that normally would never get to mix that, but they will.”
Stay up to date with Pride men’s volleyball week long through the official Regis Athletics social media accounts on Twitter (@GoRegisPride), Facebook (@GoRegisPride), Instagram (@GoRegisPride) and YouTube (Regis College Pride). Daily recaps and up-to-date match schedules are posted on www.goregispride.com.
#RegisMVB