Story provided by Jonathan Wilson, Assistant Director of Athletic Communications, Emmanuel College
BOSTON - Emmanuel College handed Regis College its first Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) loss of the season with a 3-0 (25-23, 25-18, 25-18) win Saturday afternoon in a men's collegiate volleyball match on Andy Yosinoff Court.
Regis was led by Joseph Perez (Miami, Fla.) with nine kills and Alessandro DiPaola (Newington, Conn.) with 21 assists in the loss. Brandon Valdes (Miami, Fla.) earned seven kills on 13 attempts without an error for a .538 hitting percentage along with two service aces and two block assists, and Orlando Plagata (Los Angeles, Calif.) again led the backline with eight defensive digs.
With the two sides knotted at 7-7 early in the first set, Regis exploded on an 8-1 run to take a 16-8 advantage. The lead would grow to 19-10 before a kill from Michael Shelley began an 8-0 run to bring the Saints within one. Moments later, a kill from Aiden McGowan completed the Saints' comeback, giving the home side a 21-20 advantage and their first lead of the day. Emmanuel was able to hang on to their narrow lead as another Shelley kill secured a first set victory for the Saints.
In the second set, with the Pride trailing by a point, Emmanuel embarked on a 7-1 run to open up a 12-5 advantage. Despite efforts to close the deficit from the visitors, Regis was unable to come within any less than three points. Once again, Shelley was the man who stepped up for the Saints with three kills in the final four points of the set.
A 7-0 run to start the third set put the Saints in position to secure the conference sweep over Regis. The visitors, however, refused to go down without a fight. An ace from Valdes cut the Saints lead to just a point at 17-16. Emmanuel refused to surrender the lead as the Pride were unable to level the score or take a lead in their effort to extend the match. Back-to-back Regis errors concluded a third set victory for the Saints.
Shelley finished with 15 kills to go along with five aces and five digs for the Saints. Dominic DeFerrari added a match-best 32 assists in the win.
Up next, Regis (5-6, 3-1 GNAC) will host Fisher College in a nonconference matchup Friday, Feb. 23, starting at 4:00 p.m.