BEVERLY, Mass. – Regis College was competitive throughout the match, but Endicott College picked up a 3-0 victory (25-18, 25-18, 25-18) over the Pride Tuesday night in a non-conference men's collegiate volleyball contest at MacDonald Gymnasium.
Joseph Perez (Miami, Fla.) led the Pride offensively with nine kills and a .400 hitting percentage, while Orlando Plagata (Los Angeles, Calif.) finished with five kills and four digs. Tyrell Bucasas (Waialua, Hawaii) dished out 15 assists, and Marcello Cappuccio (Scotch Plains, N.J.) paced the team defensively with eight digs.
Regis took an early 6-3 lead in the opening set on kills by John Nangle (Lowell, Mass.), Perez, and Plagata, but Endicott put together an 11-1 scoring run, led by Rafa Robert with two kills and a service aces, to open a 14-7 advantage. After a timeout, the Pride scored three straight points, two of them on kills by Francesco Buanne (Caserta, Italy), before the Gulls regained control with four unanswered points, featuring a kill and a service ace from Mason Mallory. Endicott clinched the first set on a kill by Nikolas Kasprzak.
Endicott (3-6) pulled out to a 13-9 lead in the second set on consecutive kills by Kasprzak and Will Perry, but Regis responded with six straight points, led by Bucasas with two kills and an assist, to take a 15-13 lead. The Gulls rattled off a 9-1 scoring run to retake the lead at 22-16, and then the home team would close out the set with three straight points, capped with a block by Brady Mullens.
In the third set, Mallory earned four service aces during an 8-1 Endicott scoring run that extended the Gull lead to 17-7. The two teams split the next 10 points, and then Regis rallied back with six unanswered points to close to within four points at 22-18. However, the Gulls scored the final three points of the match to complete the sweep.
Spencer Capps earned seven kills and five digs for the Gulls, while Perry also finished with seven kills and Mallory collected six kills, five service aces, four digs, and three total blocks. Gabe DeBenedetto accumulated 21 assists in the first two sets before Gavin Emenaker took over setting duties in the third set and finished with 11 assists.
Regis (6-9) is off until Saturday, March 18, when it will travel to Nashua, N.H., for a GNAC tri-match. The Pride will face host Rivier at 11 a.m. and Wentworth at 1 p.m.