WESTON, Mass. – Regis College battled MIT, ranked 13th in the NVA/AVCA Division III Men's Preseason Coaches Poll, throughout its season-opening match, but the Engineers prevailed over the Pride, 3-0 (25-21, 25-17, 25-20), Friday evening in a non-conference men's collegiate volleyball match at Higgins Court.
Matt Ferrara (Sandown, N.H.) led the Pride with eight kills, while Kostea Andreenko (Marstons Mills, Mass.) finished with seven kills, a .417 hitting percentage, and three service aces. Brendan Lam (Rockville, Md.) dished out 16 assists during the match, and Marcello Cappuccio (Scotch Plains, N.J.) paced the backline with a match-high 11 digs.
MIT scored the first three points of the match, but Regis quickly responded with a 6-1 scoring run to pull ahead. The Engineers took control of the first set with an 8-2 scoring run, led by Jack Yurkanin with two kills and a service ace. Late in the set, the Pride closed to within three twice, first on a kill by Andreenko to make it 21-18 and then on a service ace from Tyrell Bucasas (Waialua, Hawaii) to keep Regis alive before a Pride error clinched the opening set for MIT.
After the two teams split the first six points of the second set, the Engineers put together a 10-1 scoring run, led by two kills and a block assist from Brett Allen. The Pride responded with a 7-2 scoring run, capped by kills from Lam and Ferrara, but MIT scored the next four points to extend its advantage back to eight at 19-11. The Engineers would close out the second set thanks to a block by Yurkanin and Jack Roberson.
At the start of the third set, consecutive service aces by Andreenko allowed the Pride to take the early lead, but the Engineers came right back on back-to-back aces by Phillip Johnson. Down 10-9 after a kill by Johnson, Regis scored the next five points, including a service ace by Joseph Perez (Miami, Fla.) and a kill by Lam.
The Pride extended their lead to 16-12 on kills by Andreenko and Ferrara, but the Engineers took the lead for good with an 8-1 scoring run, starting with two kills by Grant Oh as well as one from Riley Oh. After an MIT service error closed the Regis deficit to two at 22-20, the Engineers finished the match with three unanswered points, capped by a block from Johnson and Nathan Levandoske.
Yurkanin led the Engineers with eight kills, two service aces, and six digs, while Allen finished with six kills and Bradley Albright contributed five kills. At the net, Roberson paced the team defensively with six total blocks as MIT finished with more team blocks (8-4) as well as the match lead in kills (27-21), service aces (10-8), and digs (31-29).
Regis College (0-1) opens GNAC play next Wednesday, Jan. 26, at 10th-ranked Wentworth starting at 7 p.m. MIT (1-0) faces two more GNAC squads in an unusual doubleheader Saturday, Jan. 22, hosting Emmanuel at 3:30 p.m. before traveling to Nashua, N.H., to face Rivier starting at 7:30 p.m.