WESTON, Mass. - Regis College won the first two sets and had chances to pull ahead late in the third set as well as close out the match in the fifth set, but Emmanuel College battled back for a 3-2 victory (30-32, 23-25, 25-22, 25-16, 20-18) Wednesday night in a Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) men's volleyball match at Higgins Court.
Joseph Perez (Miami, Fla.) led the Pride with 17 kills, while Brandon Valdes (Miami, Fla.) notched his first career double-double with 11 kills and 10 digs. Grant Wojcik (Bellingham, Mass.) dished out a season-high 44 assists, and Orlando Plagata (Los Angeles, Calif.) paced the defensive effort with 22 digs, becoming the fifth player in program history with 20 or more digs in a single match.
The first set featured 13 ties and six lead changes as the teams played extra points. Valdes collected consecutive service aces to bring about the first set point, but a block by Louis Da Silva and Trey Guest helped the Saints extend the set. Michael Shelley earned three kills to keep Emmanuel alive, the third one tying the set at 30-30, but the Pride finally closed out the opening set on a kill by Eddie Djatcha (Lowell, Mass.) and a Saint attack error.
Regis took a 5-1 lead in the second set thanks to two kills by Perez and three bad sets from the Saints. Emmanuel pulled ahead 11-9 on three straight kills from Shelley and maintained that advantage through the next 16 points. Down 19-17, the Pride scored four straight points, featuring consecutive aces by Perez, and the home team would eventually clinch the second set on an Emmanuel attack error.
The Saints pulled out to a 9-5 lead in the third set thanks to five straight points, but the Pride soon answered with their own 5-1 scoring run, capped by two kills from Perez, to tie the set at 13-13. In total, the third set featured 15 ties and six lead changes, with the final tie coming at 22-22 after a Valdes kill. Emmanuel grabbed the momentum on a kill by Guest and a block from Jyles Amirault and Aiden McGowan to close out the third set and extend the match.
Emmanuel took an early 5-2 lead in the fourth set and stayed on top the rest of the way. After Regis pulled to within one point at 10-9 on a kill by Andrew Matzouranis (North Andover, Mass.), the Saints put together an 11-2 scoring run, featuring two kills and two block assists by Guest as well as two service aces and a kill from Shelley. The Saints clinched the set on a block by Maximillian Olson and Dominic DeFerrari to send the match to a deciding fifth set.
Shelley notched consecutive service aces, and then kills by Da Silva and Guest extended the Saint lead to 9-4. Down 13-9 after a kill by Shelley, Regis rattled off a 6-1 scoring run, punctuated by consecutive service aces from Wojcik, to bring about its first match point. Once again, the Saints held off the Pride, led by Guest with a block assist and a kill, to give Emmanuel a 17-16 advantage.
An attack error by the Saints and a service ace from John Nangle (Lowell, Mass.) created another chance at victory for the Pride, but Amirault notched a kill to bring about the 40th and final tie of the match. After a Regis attack error, Amirault earned a service ace to clinch the set and the match for Emmanuel.
Shelley led the Saints with 24 kills and six service aces, plus he earned 14 digs for a double-double, while Guest also notched a double-double with 12 kills and a team-high 19 digs along with a match-high seven block assists. DeFerrari was the third Emmanuel player with a double-double as he finished with 48 assists and 12 digs.
Regis College (8-7, 4-2 GNAC) does not play again until Saturday, March 9, in a tri-match hosted by MIT, with the Pride first facing Buffalo State at 2 p.m. Emmanuel College (8-6, 3-2 GNAC) is also on an extended break, resuming competition Wednesday, March 13, against Elms College at 7 p.m.