CAMBRIDGE, Mass. - Regis College lost to MIT, 3-0 (25-15, 25-14, 25-20), Saturday morning in a non-conference men's collegiate volleyball match at Rockwell Cage.
In his Regis debut, Orlando Plagata (Los Angeles, Calif.) led the Pride with eight kills and a .375 hitting percentage. Joseph Perez (Miami, Fla.) finished with six kills, Tyrell Bucasas (Waialua, Hawaii) dished out 14 assists, and Marcello Cappuccio (Scotch Plains, N.J.) led the defensive effort with four digs.
MIT (1-0) scored the first six points of the match, led by two kills and a block assist from Nicholas Gustafson. Regis put together a 6-2 scoring run, including a kill and a block assist by Plagata, to pull to within five points at 15-10, but three kills by Gustafson during a 5-1 Engineer run helped the home team pull away. MIT would clinch the opening set on a block by Phillip Johnson and Troy Oliveira.
Gustafson helped the Engineers take a 6-2 lead early in the second set with a kill and a service ace, and then MIT would score five straight points, led by Oliveira with three kills and a block assist, to extend its advantage to 14-5. The two teams would basically exchange points the rest of the set, with MIT closing it out on a kill by Gustafson.
Regus took a 5-2 lead early in the third set on a block by John Nangle (Lowell, Mass.) and Robert Burch (Coxsackie, N.Y.), a service ace by Donovan Ross (Southbridge, Mass.), and a kill from Perez. After a timeout, MIT put together an 8-2 scoring run, led by Oliveira with two kills and a block assist, to pull ahead, 10-7. The Engineers pulled away from the Pride with three unanswered points midway through the set, and then MIT closed out the set and the match on consecutive Regis attack errors.
Gustafson and Oliveira led the Engineers with 11 kills apiece, with Oliveira also collecting three total blocks and five digs. As a team, MIT hit .410 in the match and doubled Regis' total of team blocks, 6-3.
Regis College (0-1) opens the home schedule Wednesday night, Jan. 18, against Russell Sage College beginning at 7:30 p.m. at Higgins Court. It will be the first of nine regular season home matches for the Pride during the 2023 season.