Springfield College Wins Battle of the Pride in Regis Home Opener

WESTON, Mass. – Springfield College showed why it is considered one of the top teams in the country, defeating Regis College, 3-0 (25-15, 25-7, 25-8), Tuesday night in a non-conference men's collegiate volleyball match at Higgins Court.

Offensively, Matt Ferrara (Haverhill, Mass.) led Regis with six kills as Brendan Lam (Rockville, Md.) dished out 14 assists. Springfield, ranked second in this week's NVA/AVCA Division III Men's Coaches Top 15 Poll, was led by Brennen Brandow with 14 kills, a .667 hitting percentage, and five service aces.

The two teams exchanged the first four points of the match before Springfield rattled off six straight points, led by Jarrett Anderson with three service aces. Springfield continued to pull away as the set went on, finally clinching the opening set on a kill by Brandow.

Springfield scored the first two points of the second set and never looked back, stringing two and three points together while preventing Regis from scoring more than one point before gaining back the serve. After a kill by Regis' Josh Nolen (Fairfax, Va.), Springfield earned 10 unanswered points, capped by a kills from Liam York.

Brandow collected four kills and three service aces as Springfield opened the third set with a 14-2 lead. Springfield did not make an attack error in the third set, hitting .667 in the set as it closed out the match by forcing a Regis service error.

For the match, Springfield hit .519 as it earned 34 kills while making just six attack errors, plus the visitors collected 12 service aces and five team blocks. On the other side, Regis finished with 15 kills and 14 attack errors along with 13 defensive digs, led by Inelson Alves (Brockton, Mass.) with three digs.

Springfield (4-1) hosts Wells Friday, Jan. 31, at 7 p.m., followed by matches against SUNY Poly and Lasell at home Saturday, Feb. 1.

Regis (0-2) heads to Quincy Thursday, Jan. 30, for a match at Eastern Nazarene starting at 7 p.m., followed by a tri-match in Boston Saturday, Feb. 1, featuring its GNAC opener against Wentworth as well as a contest against Nichols College. Regis returns to Higgins Court to face Dean College next Thursday, Feb. 6, beginning at 6 p.m.