BOSTON – Regis College picked up two key league victories Saturday, defeating Emerson College, 3-2, and Colby-Sawyer College, 3-1, Saturday in Great Northeast Athletic Conference men's volleyball action at Brown and Plofker Gymnasium.

REGIS 3, EMERSON 2 (25-22, 25-12, 20-25, 22-25, 19-17)

Matt Ferrara (Sandown, N.H.) notched a double-double, leading the Pride with a season-high 17 kills and a career-high 16 digs, plus he hit .429 in the match. Josh Nolen (Falls Church, Va.) finished with 11 kills, two service aces, six digs, and two block assists, while Joseph Perez (Miami, Fla.) added 10 kills, two service aces, and six digs. The setting duties were split between Brendan Lam (Rockville, Md.) with 25 assists and Tyrell Bucasas (Waialua, Hawaii) with 22 assists, and Marcello Cappuccio (Scotch Plains, N.J.) contributed 15 digs.

In the fifth set, Regis took an early 5-3 lead before Emerson went on a 6-2 scoring run, capped by a service ace from Jackson Gordon, to pull ahead, 9-7. Down 12-10 after a block by Neiko Pittman and Bayden Slavik, the Pride rallied back, eventually taking a 16-15 lead on a solo block by Ferrara. After an exchange of points tied the set at 17-17, Regis clinched the match on a Lion service error and a kill by Perez.

The teams split the first 20 points of the match before consecutive kills by Kostea Andreenko (Marstons Mills, Mass.) gave the Pride a 13-10 advantage. Regis would hold off the Lions throughout the rest of the opening set, eventually taking a 1-0 match lead on an Emerson attack error.

The Pride gained quick control of the second set thanks to a 10-1 scoring run, capped by a block from Andreenko and Brendan Carroll (Natick, Mass.) as well as a kill by Andreenko. Regis would close out the set with an 8-4 scoring stretch to take a 2-0 match lead.

Emerson (2-14, 0-7 GNAC) would take an early lead in the third set thanks to a kill and consecutive solo blocks by Pittman. After a kill by Perez and a Lion attack error tied the set at 14-14, Emerson scored five straight points, led by a kill and two solo blocks from Rory Dobbins, to open a 19-14 advantage. The Pride closed to within two at 20-18 on two kills by Ferrara and a service ace from Shane Phillip (Brockton, Mass.), but Emerson would score five of the final seven points of the set, capped by a kill from Pittman.

The Lions started the fourth set with a 7-2 advantage before the Pride put together a 7-1 scoring run to pull ahead, 11-10. Emerson responded right away with consecutive kills by Luke Roehm before two kills by Ferrara tied the set at 15-15. The Lions went on a 7-2 scoring run, but the Pride scored four of the next five points to pull within two at 23-21 before the home team eventually clinched the fourth set on a kill by Jack Miessner.

Pittman led the Lions with 21 kills, plus he collected 14 digs and six total blocks. Slavik accumulated 34 assists to go along with eight kills and seven digs, Miessner finished with 10 kills, and Bryson Beck led all players in the match with 20 defensive digs.

REGIS 3, COLBY-SAWYER 1 (25-12, 22-25, 25-12, 27-25)

Ferrara finished with a career-high 19 kills on 27 attack attempts without an error for a .704 hitting percentage. Andreenko collected seven kills, two service aces, and five total blocks, while Lam dished out 26 assists and Cappuccio paced the Pride backline with nine digs.

Ferrara got off to a hot start as he opened the match with three consecutive kills and a service ace to help the Pride established a 6-1 lead. Regis later put together a 13-3 scoring run and then closed out the first set by scoring five of the final six points, capped by a kill from Perez.

Colby-Sawyer (4-12, 1-7 GNAC) regrouped in the second set, going on a 7-2 scoring run to open a 16-11 advantage. Regis closed to within two later in the set, but the Chargers clinched the second set on a kill by Andrew Kovacs to tie the match at 1-1.

Lam earned two service aces as the Pride scored the first seven points of the third set, and then they extended their lead to 18-5 thanks to an 8-1 scoring run, including a block assist, a kill, and a service ace from Nolen. The two teams exchanged points the rest of the set, with Ferrara closing out the third set in Regis's favor with a kill.

The Chargers took the early lead in the fourth set on kills by Kovacs, Orlando Plagata, and Eric Miller, and then they took advantage of four straight Pride attack errors to establish an 8-4 advantage. Regis responded with eight unanswered points, led by four kills from Ferrara, but Colby-Sawyer would bounce back with an 8-2 scoring run to retake the lead at 19-17.

Down 21-19, Regis scored four straight points to pull ahead, but Colby-Sawyer worked its way into a 24-24 tie to extend the set. After each team scored once to create another tie, the Pride closed out the set and the match on kills by Perez and Andreenko.

Plagata led the Chargers with eight kills, while AJ Gnieski collected 19 assists. Isaac Davies earned three service aces, and three different Colby-Sawyer players finished with five defensive digs apiece.

Regis (11-10, 6-4 GNAC) heads west to face Springfield College Wednesday, March 23, starting at 6 p.m. before resuming conference play with a tri-match next Saturday, March 26, at Emmanuel College also involving Elms College.