BOSTON - Regis College concluded the regular season with losses to Wentworth and Rivier Saturday during a Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) men's volleyball tri-match hosted by the Leopards at Tansey Gymnasium.
WENTWORTH 3, REGIS 0 (25-6, 25-18, 25-12)
Wentworth (27-1, 12-1 GNAC) scored the first three points of the match and later rattled off 14 unanswered points, including five service aces from Jacob Waga, on its way to winning the opening set.
The Leopards raced out to a 7-1 lead in the second set, led by Tyler Jack with two kills and a block assists and Brandon Dunz with two block assists and a kill. The Pride scored four straight points, including consecutive service aces by Grant Wojcik (Bellingham, Mass.), to pull within two points, where Regis remained for a while as the teams traded points. Wentworth closed the second set with a 7-2 scoring run to increase its match lead to 2-0.
Regis stayed close early in the fourth set, cutting its deficit to one at 5-4 on a kill by Andrew Matzouranis (North Andover, Mass.), but Wentworth pulled away thanks to a 9-1 scoring run, led by Benjamin Moughon with two kills and two service aces. The Leopards would eventually clinch the set and the match on a Pride attack error.
Joseph Perez (Miami, Fla.) and Francesco Buanne (Caserta, Italy) led the Pride with five kills each as Wojcik dished out 11 assists to go along with two service aces. Jack led the Leopards with 10 kills, and Ryan Roller contributed four kills, five digs, and three block assists.
RIVIER 3, REGIS 0 (25-15, 25-17, 25-16)
Perez led the Pride with 14 kills, while Wojcik collected 20 assists and Malakai DeHuelbes (Tucson, Ariz.) paced the Regis backline with six digs. For Rivier, Chris Lezon was a perfect 9-for-9 in attack attempts, and Neil Rea finished with 31 assists, five kills, four service aces, and four digs.
The Raiders prevented the Pride from earning consecutive serves in the first set after Regis won the opening point on a kill by Perez. Rivier extended its advantage throughout the set and finally closed it out on kills by Isaac Borges and Izaviah Hong.
Two kills each by Borges and Lezon allowed the Raiders to grab the early lead in the second set, 8-3. Later in the set, after a kill by Brandon Valdes (Miami, Fla.) brought the Pride within four points at 19-15, Rivier closed out the second set with a 6-2 scoring run, capped by two blocks from Borges and Lezon.
Rivier (17-12, 10-3 GNAC) took control of the third set thanks to an early 6-1 scoring run, and then a block by Borges and Ryan Peace extended the Rivier advantage to 15-8 and forced a Regis timeout. Rivier would complete the sweep in consecutive service aces by Rea.
Regis (10-18, 5-9 GNAC) will enter the 2024 GNAC Men's Volleyball Tournament as the fifth seed and travel to face fourth seed Emmanuel College in the first round Tuesday, April 9, at a time to be announced.