Men’s Volleyball Gains First Win of 2020

WESTON, Mass. – Several players made contributions for Regis College as the Pride picked up their first victory of the 2020 season by defeating Dean College, 3-0 (25-9, 25-19, 25-23), Thursday night in a non-conference men's collegiate volleyball match at Higgins Court.

Matt Ferrara (Haverhill, Mass.) led the Pride with 11 kills on 21 attempts, posting a .381 hitting percentage, plus he earned eight digs and four total blocks. The setting duties were split between Sebastian Valdes (Diamond Bar, Calif.) with 16 assists and Brendan Lam (Rockville, Md.) with 15 assists, two service aces, and four digs. Josh Nolen (Fairfax, Va.) collected five kills on six attempts in the first two sets before Donovan Ross (Southbridge, Mass.) picked up four kills on five attempts during the third set in his first collegiate contest.

The Pride jumped out to an 8-1 lead in the opening set, led by two kills from Inelson Alves (Brockton, Mass.). Regis put together an 11-2 scoring run, capped by a block by Nolen and Ferrara, to extend its lead to 20-5, but Dean then scored four of the next five points, led by John Kauffman with two kills and a service ace. The Pride closed out the first set with four straight points thanks to kills by Nolen, Ferrara and Jack Wizboski (Townsend, Mass.).

Regis took control of the second set with a 9-1 scoring run, but Dean stayed close thanks to a 5-1 scoring stretch, led by two kills from Holdjer DeCarvalho. A kill by Skylar O'Dell (Bennington, Vt.) allowed the Pride to remain on top late in the set, 22-17, and then Regis was able to clinch the set on consecutive Bulldog errors.

The third set featured 10 ties and four lead changes, as Regis took an early 5-2 lead on a service ace by Gueincy Clodomir (Pembroke Park, Fla.), but Dean came back to tie the set at 7-7. Down 12-9, the Bulldogs scored four unanswered points to pull ahead, and then they would use a service ace by Tyler Martins and a block from DeCarvalho to retake the lead at 20-19.

Down 22-21 after a kill by Kordell Scott, the Pride closed out the set and the match by scoring four of the final five points, starting with kills by Ross and Dimitri Stewart (Paterson, N.J.). After a Regis service error tied the set at 23-23, the Pride regained the serve on a Dean setting error, and Stewart finished off the contest with his third kill of the night.

Aaron Brody and Kauffman led the Bulldogs with five kills apiece, with Kauffman also earning two service aces and seven digs. Martins finished with 14 assists, one service ace, and four digs, while libero Aaron Rivers led all players with 10 defensive digs.

Dean (0-5) plays its next eight matches at home, starting Saturday, Feb. 8, against Emmanuel College starting at 11 a.m.

Regis (1-5) heads to New York for a tri-match hosted by Bard College Sunday, Feb. 9, first taking on Baruch in a neutral-site contest at 1 p.m. before facing the host Raptors at 3 p.m. The Pride return home Tuesday, Feb. 11, for a GNAC match against Johnson & Wales starting at 6 p.m.