QUINCY, Mass. – Regis College swept John Jay College in its first match of the day, but the Pride could not complete a comeback against host Eastern Nazarene College, as the Lions pulled out a 3-2 victory Saturday afternoon at the Lahue Athletic Center.

Regis 3, John Jay 0 (25-18, 25-12, 25-19)

Joseph Perez (Miami, Fla.) led the Pride with nine kills, while Logan Sras (Lowell, Mass.) and Orlando Plagata (Los Angeles, Calif.) finished with seven kills apiece. Tyrell Bucasas (Waialua, Hawaii) dished out 26 assists, and Francesco Buanne (Caserta, Italy) did not let many balls get by him at the net as he collected eight total blocks.

The teams played even through the first half of the first set before Regis put together an 8-1 scoring run, featuring three block assists and a service ace from Buanne, to open a 20-13 advantage. The Pride would bring about set point on a kill by Chris Huynh (Methuen, Mass.) and a service ace from Malakai DeHuelbes (Tucson, Ariz.) before clinching the opening set on a John Jay attack error.

John Jay (3-6) closed to within one at 6-5 in the second set before Regis started expanding its lead, starting with an 8-2 scoring run that was capped by a block from Buanne and Perez. The Pride would eventually close out the set thanks to a 10-3 scoring run, punctuated by a kill from Plagata.

John Jay took a 6-3 lead early in the third set and then answered a four-point Regis run with one of its own to retake the lead at 10-7. The Pride put together a 9-2 scoring run, led by three kills from Plagata, to take the lead for good. Regis held off one final John Jay rally by scoring the final three points of the match on kills by Sras and Plagata as well as a block by Buanne and Bucasas.

As a team, Regis hit .356 in the match, the third time within the last four matches the Pride posted a hitting percentage over .350. The Pride tied their season high with 11 team blocks and accumulated nine service aces, the second-most in a single match this season for the squad.

Eastern Nazarene 3, Regis 2 (18-25, 25-18, 25-22, 24-26, 15-12)

Perez again led the Pride offensively with 17 kills and three service aces, while Sras earned seven kills and Buanne finished with seven kills and six block assists. Bucasas notched a double-double with 39 assists and 16 digs, and Marcello Cappuccio (Scotch Plains, N.J.) also collected 16 defensive digs for Regis.

After Eastern Nazarene tied the first set at 5-5 on kills by Delfy Soler and a service ace from Alejandro Garcia Fernandez, Regis put together an 8-2 scoring run to take the lead. The two teams basically traded points the rest of the set, with Perez closing it out on a kill.

Eastern Nazarene (7-6) used a 10-2 scoring run midway through the second set to tie the match, and then the Lions won five of the final seven points of an even third set, capped by a kill from Soler, to pull ahead in the contest, two sets to one.

Regis took a 17-12 lead in the fourth set thanks to a 6-1 scoring run, led by Buanne with two block assists and a kill, but the Lions extended the set by winning three Pride set points, including kills by Garcia Fernandez and Soler. With the set tied at 24-24, Sras notched a kill, and the home team then committed an attack error to allow Regis to bring about the deciding fifth set.

Garcia Fernandez notched four kills as the Lions won five of the first six points of the final set, but Regis would eventually pull to within one point on five different occasions. After an Eastern Nazarene attack error closed its lead to 12-11, the Lions would score three of the final four points of the match, punctuated by a kill from Soler.

Soler and Garcia Fernandez each finished with 18 kills, with Soler also collecting a match-high 23 digs and Garcia Fernandez contributing four service aces. Ian Pacheco added nine kills and 12 digs as the Lions earned 70 digs against 53 digs for the Pride.

Regis College (5-7) heads to Dudley, Mass., to face Nichols College Wednesday, Feb. 22, starting at 7 p.m.