Blazers Stumble In Opening Round Of NCAA Tournament

Blazers Stumble In Opening Round Of NCAA Tournament

HOBOKEN, N.J. – The No. 15 Elms College men's volleyball team saw a memorable season come to a close on Friday after a 3-0 loss to Stevenson in the opening round of the NCAA DIII Men's Volleyball Tournament at Stevens Institute of Technology.

The Blazers (20-7) struggled to gain momentum in the 25-22, 25-20, 25-14 loss, just their seventh of the season. Elms hit .154 in the contest while the Mustangs used a .375 hitting percentage to power their way to victory.

Jeremy Torres (Juncos, P.R.) led Elms with eight kills and did not have an error, hitting .667 in the match while adding a team-high seven digs. Martin Acevedo (Carolina, P.R.) added six kills and Gabriel Levy (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) had five for the Blazers. John Dunphy (Farmington, Conn.) finished with 15 assists and four digs.

Landon Shorts (York, Pa.) ands Jason Gardner (York, Pa.) each had a match-high 10 kills for the Mustangs (22-8), who will advance to the national quarterfinals on Saturday to face No. 3 Stevens. Jared Chin (Newton, Mass.) dished out 15 assists for Stevenson and Derek Tangorra (Ashburn, Va.) had a team-high six digs.

Elms held a 26-20 advantage in digs in the match but the Mustangs led 8-6 in service aces and 7-5 in total blocks.

The 2018 Blazers won the New England Collegiate Conference championship for the first time since 2012 and secured the program's first-ever national ranking.