GULLS DOWN PRIDE IN NECC OPENER

WESTON, Mass. – The Regis College men's volleyball team fell to Endicott College, 3-0, on Tuesday night in the Pride's New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) opener in Weston, Mass. The Pride drop to 0-2 overall on the young year, while the Gulls improve to 4-3 and 2-0 in league action. The Gulls used set scores of 25-8, 25-12, and 25-15 in the victory.

Regis tied the game early at 2-2, taking advantage of a Gull passing error, but Endicott responded with an 8-1 run and forced the first Pride timeout. The Gulls went on to win the first set, 25-8, behind three kills apiece from Mike Coniglione (Glenville, N.Y.), Travis Netherton (Waukegan, Ill.), and John Osborne (Freehold, N.J.).

The Pride hung around in game two, making it a 7-6 game on a Gull attack error. Joe Coye (Plaistow, N.H.) registered his first kill of the match to make it a 12-7 game, and the Pride only trailed 16-9 after a block by Coye and Evan Stone (Stockton, Calif.). Endicott pulled away late, ending the game on a 9-3 run and taking a 2-0 advantage with the 25-12 win.

In game three, the Pride were tied as late as 8-8 when Dan Berdichevsky (Wayland, Mass.) got on the board with his first kill of the day on a feed from David Amicangioli (Belmont, Mass.). Joe Coye picked up his third block of the night and made it an 11-9 game, but the Gulls went on to score four of the next five points to force a Regis timeout. The Pride cut the deficit to nine twice in the final game on a pair of kills from Alex Caliendo (Windsor, Conn.), but the Gull lead was too large to overcome as Endicott hung on for the 25-15 win.

Joe Coye led the Pride with four kills and also added six digs and three blocks. Caliendo added his two kills and four digs as well as a service ace, while Dave Amicangioli dished out seven assists and picked up four digs.

The Gulls were paced by seven kills apiece from Mike Coniglione and Travis Netherton as Endicott swung .306 on the night. Nine other Gulls registered at least two kills. Tyler Bacon (Cypress, Calif.) posted a match-high 29 assists and also added a pair of service aces. Josh Anderson (La Canada, Calif.) and Aaron Jessee (Okinawa, Japan) led the Gulls defense with five digs apiece.

Regis returns to action on Saturday afternoon when they host a tri-match with Southern Vermont College and Mount Ida College starting at 11:00 a.m. Endicott will participate in the MIT Invitational on Saturday and Sunday, starting with a 4:00 p.m. match against Johnson and Wales Saturday afternoon.