Men's Volleyball Splits Tri-Match with Pine Manor, Eastern Nazarene

QUINCY, Mass. - The Regis (Mass.) men's volleyball team fell just short of a sweep in its first tri-match of the 2018 season, sweeping Pine Manor College before falling to Eastern Nazarene in five sets Saturday afternoon at the Lahue Physical Education Center.

With the split, the Pride moves to 2-5 overall on the season. They will next take the court on the road on Wednesday even with a matchup at Purchase College at 7:00 p.m.

In the first matchup of the day, the Pride cruised past Pine Manor College in three sets (25-22, 25-19, 25-15) in what will be the first of four meetings between the schools this season. 

Regis appeared in control in set number one, riding an 11-2 mid-set run to a big advantage, but the Gators refused to roll over. Trailing 23-13, Pine Manor went on a 9-1 run to stun the Pride before freshman Inelson Alves (Brockton, Mass.) put down a kill to end a nail-biting first set in favor of Regis. 

The second set was much steadier than set one, as the Pride jumped ahead early and maintained a moderate margin throughout. Regis never trailed in the set, taking it by a score of 25-19 with a clinching kill from senior Brett Krahl (Santa Clarita, Calif.).

The Pride was dominant in set number three to close out its first sweep of the season. Back to back kills from Jeff Ramos (Pawtucket, R.I.) capped a 10-3 Pride run to open the set that put the match all but out of reach. The Gators came soaring back with a big run of their own to cut the deficit to 13-11, but the Pride quickly turned it around, scoring 12 of the game's final 16 points to win the match.

Ramos led the way for the Pride statistically in the match, picking up 13 kills and 10 digs for the double-double. With 10 kills and an attack percentage of .389 on the afternoon was Krahl, while Alves continued his solid rookie campaign with eight kills and five digs.

The second match was a true battle for the Pride, with Eastern Nazarene prevailing in both teams' first five-set match of the season, 25-19, 25-27, 25-18, 24-26, 15-8.

The match was tight in the early going, tied 7-7 in set number one, but then the Lions started to take control. The hosts would go on a 6-1 run from which the Pride could never fully recover, taking a 25-19 set number one. 

Neither team gave an inch in a thrilling second set, with neither team leading by more than three wire to wire. The Lions led by a score of 15-12 at the midway point of the set, looking to take a demanding 2-0 lead, but the Pride refused to go down without a fight. Krahl went kill-service ace back to back to cut the deficit to 15-14 and the battle was on. Ramos would later clinch the set with a kill to send the match to set three all level.

Set three closely resembled set number one, and it would again be the Lions to win the set and push the Pride to the brink. A Regis kill from junior Drew Beimel (Redondo Beach, Calif.) cut the score to 14-13 Eastern Nazarene at the set's midway point, but from there, it would be all Lions. With Matthew Tyree (Lansdale, Pa.) at the service line, Eastern Nazarene went on a 7-0 run to push the score to 21-13 and all but close out the set. In the end, a Pride service error would indeed secure the Lions victory in the set to go back on top two sets to one.

The Pride jumped out to three point leads throughout the fourth set, but continuously struggled to put the set away. Regis led by three on three occasions before the Lions would knot the score back up, but it was ultimately the Pride who got the last laugh. With the set level at 24-24, Regis sophomore Jayson Vega (Ponce, P.R.) and freshman Shawn Gamble (Cranston, R.I.) combined for a huge assisted block, which was followed by an Eastern Nazarene attack error to force a deciding set five.

Unfortunately for the Pride, the fifth set more closely resembled sets one and three than sets two and four, as the Lions dominated from start to finish. The Lions accumulated eight kills without an error in the set for an attack percentage of .421, while the Pride couldn't find a rhythm, recording just two kills and an attack percentage of -.133 in the set. Eastern Nazarene would close out the match on a kill by senior Kenny Sorensen (Quincy, Mass.).

The ending was fitting, as Sorensen had a match for the ages. The home-grown product finished with a ridiculous 29 kills to lead all players. Krahl led the Pride offensively with 18 kills, followed closely by Beimel with 16. Ramos recorded his second double-double of the day, finishing with 11 kills and 14 digs.

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