WESTON, Mass. – Regis College earned its first Great Northeast Athletic Conference victory of the season by defeating Emerson College, and then the Pride posted one of its highest team hitting percentages of the year in a sweep of King's College during a tri-match Saturday at Higgins Court.
Regis College 3, Emerson College 1 (25-14, 23-25, 25-15, 25-23)
Josh Nolen (Falls Church, Va.) collected 10 kills while hitting .529, while Matt Ferrara (Sandown, N.H.) also finished with 10 kills along with eight digs. Brendan Carroll (Natick, Mass.) earned nine kills on 21 attempts without an attack error for a .429 hitting percentage, Joseph Perez (Miami, Fla.) contributed nine kills and seven digs, and Kostea Andreenko (Marstons Mills, Mass.) added eight kills, five service aces, and four total blocks. Brendan Lam (Rockville, Md.) dished out 21 assists, Tyrell Bucasas (Waialua, Hawaii) accumulated 20 assists and seven digs, and Marcello Cappuccio (Scotch Plains, N.J.) paced the Pride backline with 15 digs.
The Pride took advantage of Emerson miscues to open an 8-4 lead in the first set, and then they went on a 7-1 scoring run to extend their lead to 18-9. Regis never allowed the Lions to put together a string of points thanks to a sideout percentage of 86 percent, eventually clinching the opening set on a kill by Andreenko.
After Regis started the second set by establishing a 7-3 lead, Emerson scored five of the next seven points to close to within one at 9-8. Led by two kills and a block assist by Nolen, the Pride went back on top, 16-12, but the Lions would eventually take control of the set thanks to a 9-3 scoring run, including three blocks, with Luke Roehm notching a kill to win the set and tie the match.
Andreenko notched four service aces within a five-point span to give Regis a 10-2 advantage in the third set. The two teams basically traded points through most of the remainder of the set until the Pride closed it out with a 7-3 scoring stretch.
The fourth set was the closest of the contest with 10 ties and two lead changes. After a Pride attack error gave the Lions a 19-18 lead, Regis scored the next three points on Emerson mistakes. The Pride held on in the set and won the match on four kills, with Ferrara notching two of those kills and Perez finishing the match with a kill.
Neiko Pittman led the Lions with a double-double, finishing with 13 kills and 12 digs, with Roehm contributing eight kills and five digs. Bayden Slavik collected 29 assists, five kills, and five digs, while libero Bryson Beck ended the contest with 11 defensive digs.
Regis College 3, King's College 0 (25-16, 25-13, 25-18)
Perez hit .500 in the match as he led the Pride with nine kills, with Ferrara earning eight kills, two service aces, and three block assists. Nolen finished with five kills in seven attack attempts for a .714 hitting percentage, plus he led the team with six total blocks. Andreenko contributed five kills, three service aces, and two block assists, and Cappuccio again paced the Regis backline with 15 digs.
Andreenko notched two kills, a block assist, and consecutive service aces early in the first set as the Pride raced out to a 13-5 advantage. The Monarchs closed to within four points at 19-15, but Regis closed out the opening set with a 6-1 scoring run, capped by kills from Robert Burch (Coxsackie, N.Y.) and Perez.
Consecutive kills from Perez as well as a kill and a service ace by Bucasas opened the second set, and then the Pride put together a 12-1 scoring run to extend their lead to 19-5. Regis would eventually reach set point on a kill by Dimitri Stewart (Paterson, N.J.), with a service error from the Monarchs ending the second set in favor of the Pride.
Ferrara collected two kills and a block assist early in the third set as Regis established a 6-2 lead, but three kills from Joe Herman allowed the Monarchs to close to within two points at 12-10. King's College could not come any closer, as Regis finished the set and the match by scoring five of the final six points, led by three kills from Carroll.
Herman finished with five kills and eight digs, but King's College ended up with more attack errors (24) than kills (13) as Regis collected eight team blocks. In addition, the Pride earned nine service aces while allowing just one service ace by the Monarchs, the only ace against the home team the entire day.
In the middle match of the day, King's College (11-3) defeated Emerson College (1-10, 0-5 GNAC), 3-1 (25-16, 24-26, 25-15, 25-23). Jared Piontkowski led the Monarchs with 17 kills and four service aces to go along with 11 digs and seven total blocks. Slavik notched a double-double for the Lions with 12 kills and 27 assists.
Regis College (5-7, 1-4 GNAC) will travel to face Nichols College Wednesday, Feb. 23, starting at 7 p.m. Emerson's next opponent is also Nichols, as the Lions will face the Bison on the road next Saturday, Feb. 26, beginning at 1 p.m. The next match for King's is also next Saturday on the road, as the Monarchs face Stevens at 1 p.m.