Pride Volleyball Splits Saturday Tri-Match to Open Home Schedule

WESTON, Mass. - With contributions from numerous players, Regis College opened its 2024 home schedule with a 3-0 (25-12, 25-5, 25-22) Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) victory over Dean College, but the Pride lost to Eastern Nazarene College, 3-1 (24-26, 25-23, 25-19, 25-21), in a non-conference men's collegiate volleyball match Saturday at Higgins Court.

REGIS 3, DEAN 0

Regis earned at least one kill from 12 different players, led by Eddie Djatcha (Lowell, Mass.) with seven kills on a .667 hitting percentage. John Nangle (Lowell, Mass.) finished with five kills, four service aces, and three total blocks, while Tyrell Bucasas (Waialua, Hawaii) and Grant Wojcik (Bellingham, Mass.) dished out 10 assists each and Orlando Plagata (Los Angeles, Calif.) paced the Pride backline with nine defensive digs.

Dean pulled ahead early in the first set, 6-4, thanks to a block by Arthur Felicio, but the Pride responded with a 15-4 scoring run, led by Brandon Valdes (Miami, Fla.) with three kills. Regis would eventually score the final five points of the opening set, featuring two service aces from Valdes.

In the second set, the Pride rattled off a 14-1 scoring run, including three service aces and a kill by Nangle, and then once again scored the final five points of the set, featuring consecutive kills by Bucasas. The Bulldogs battled back in the third set, opening a 7-4 lead and then staying within striking distance through the majority of the set.

With the Bulldogs taking an 18-17 lead after a kill by Aaron Fonseca, the Pride responded by scoring five straight points and then eventually creating match point on a kill by Nangle and a service ace from Jalen Watt (South Hadley, Mass.). After Nunu Coward-Jackson capped a quick 3-0 spurt with a service ace, the Pride closed out the set and the match by forcing a service error.

Bulldog libero Luis Castillo led his team with 11 defensive digs, while Hunter Armitage finished with seven assists and eight digs. As a team, Regis hit .259 in the match, plus it collected 12 service aces while making only 11 service errors.

EASTERN NAZARENE 3, REGIS 1

Andrew Matzouranis (North Andover, Mass.) led the Pride with 16 kills and a .520 hitting percentage, while Francesco Buanne (Caserta, Italy) finished with seven kills on a .400 hitting percentage along with three service aces, five digs, and five total blocks. Wojcik dished out 18 assists, Joseph Perez (Miami, Fla.) collected five kills, three service aces, and eight digs, and Plagata also finished with eight digs for the Pride.

Eastern Nazarene scored five straight points early in the first set, including two service aces by Jacob Zarges, but Regis would battle back and eventually pull ahead, 13-12, on a kill by Matzouranis. The Lions established a two-point lead on three different occasions and held the advantage as late as 22-21 in the set. The Pride would score five of the final seven points of the set, including kills by Perez, Matzouranis, and Buanne.

The Lions again took the early lead in the second set at 8-4 before the Pride scored five unanswered points, including two service aces by Perez. Just as in the first set, the lead would go back and forth until a kill by Djatcha put Regis ahead, 19-18. After the Pride tied the score at 23-23 on a kill by Perez and a service ace from Buanne, the Lions would clinch the second set and tie the match on a kill by Delfy Soler and a service ace from Zarges.

Zarges led the Lions early in the third set with three kills and a block assist to open a 7-4 advantage. Two kills by Matzouranis and a service ace from Buanne would tie the set at 15-15, but Eastern Nazarene took the lead for good on kills by Soler and Alejandro Garcia Fernandez. Regis closed to within one point at 19-18 on a kill by Robert Burch (Coxsackie, N.Y.), but the Lions responded by scoring six of the final seven points of the set, led by three kills from Zarges.

Back-to-back kills by both Soler and Garcia Fernandez helped the Lions establish an 11-5 lead in the fourth set, with Regis unable to bring its deficit any lower than three points behind the rest of the set. Watt provided a spark late in the fourth set with a kill and four total blocks, but Eastern Nazarene would hold off the Pride rally and complete the victory.

Garcia Fernandez led the Lions with 15 kills and three service aces, while Zarges also finished with three service aces to go along with 14 kills on a .433 hitting percentage and a team-high 10 digs. Christopher Gil dished out 38 assists, and Soler contributed 12 kills and seven digs.

As a team, the Pride collected 11 team blocks while the Lions finished with just three team blocks, but they did earn more kills (46-40) at a higher hitting percentage (.250-.214).

In the middle match of the day, Eastern Nazarene cruised to a 3-0 (25-13, 25-10, 25-12) victory over Dean. Soler and Garcia Fernandez earned 10 kills apiece while Zarges finished with six kills, 12 assists, seven service aces, and four digs. For the Bulldogs, Fonseca led the way with five kills, and Castillo kept Dean in the match with nine defensive digs.

Regis College (2-2, 2-0 GNAC) and Eastern Nazarene (5-1, 0-0 NEVC) will see each other in a rematch on the Lions' home floor Tuesday, Jan. 30, starting at 7 p.m. Dean College (0-3, 0-1 GNAC) travels to face Fisher College at the same time Tuesday.