Pride Unable to Complete Comeback in Five-Set Road Loss

QUINCY, Mass. – Regis College rallied from being down 2-0 in the match to force a deciding fifth set, but Eastern Nazarene College was able to prevail, 3-2 (25-23, 25-22, 22-25, 21-25, 15-11), Thursday night in a non-conference men's collegiate volleyball match at the Lahue PE Center.

Josh Nolen (Fairfax, Va.) led the Pride with 13 kills, a .435 hitting percentage, and two service aces, plus he earned three total blocks. Inelson Alves (Brockton, Mass.) finished with 11 kills, Dimitri Stewart (Paterson, N.J.) collected nine kills on a .400 hitting percentage along with two service aces and four total blocks, and Brendan Lam (Rockville, Md.) dished out a career-high 42 assists. Defensively, libero Zabdiel Frias (Trujillo Alto, Puerto Rico) led the way with 15 digs, while Lam contributed nine digs.

Down two sets to zero, Regis fell behind in the third set 8-2, but the Pride came out of a timeout by scoring five straight points to close to within one point. A block by Nolen and Alves put Regis on top, 16-15, but Eastern Nazarene regained the lead thanks to four unanswered points. Regis would put together a 9-3 scoring run to close out the third set, capped by two kills from Fernando Gomez (San Juan, Puerto Rico).

The Pride took the early lead in the fourth set, extending it to three at 10-7 on a service ace by Stewart. The Lions would eventually go ahead 18-16 on a kill by Chris Jaskiewicz, but once again Regis came from behind, once again using a 9-3 scoring run to clinch the set, including the final three points on kills by Jack Wizboski (Townsend, Mass.), Stewart, and Alves.

In the fifth set, a kill by Delfy Soler and a block from Tim Eddings allowed the Lions to gain the early 3-1 advantage. The Pride was able to tie the set on three occasions, including a 9-9 tie after kills by Nathan Asstafan (Woonsocket, R.I.) and Nolen. However, Eastern Nazarene took advantage of three straight Regis attack errors, closing out the set and the match on a 6-2 scoring run, punctuated by two kills from Eddings.

For Eastern Nazarene, Eddings and Soler each finished with 14 kills, with Eddings also collecting nine digs and three solo blocks. Nicholas Thibeau hit .500 in the match as he ended up with 10 kills, three service aces, and four total blocks, and Lion setter Brandon Jenkins earned 33 assists and seven digs. Jaskiewicz also finished with three service aces and four total blocks, and libero Quinn Smith led the backline with 12 defensive digs.

The Pride lost the match despite finishing with more kills (54-42), a higher hitting percentage (.169-.138), and more digs (49-37) than the Lions. Eastern Nazarene's defense at the net was better with more team blocks (12-9), and Regis' service game was a problem throughout the night, as the Pride committed 22 service errors.

Regis had several opportunities to take control of the opening set, establishing a three-point advantage on four separate occasions. Down 22-19, Eastern Nazarene rallied with a 6-1 scoring stretch, using consecutive Pride errors to win the first set. The Pride held a two-point lead late in the second set before the Lions scored five straight points, led by two service aces by Jaskiewicz, to win the set.

Eastern Nazarene (4-3) hosts a tri-match Saturday, Feb. 1, taking on NVU-Johnson at 1 p.m. and Mount Saint Vincent at 5 p.m.

Regis (0-3) heads to Boston for a tri-match at Wentworth Saturday, Feb. 1, first facing the host Leopards in a GNAC contest at 11 a.m. before taking on Nichols College at 1 p.m. The Pride play at home next Thursday, Feb. 6, against Dean College starting at 6 p.m. at Higgins Court.