Men's Volleyball Held Off By MIT, 3-2
MEN'S VOLLEYBALL HELD OFF BY MIT, 3-2
CHICOPEE, MA, March 1, 2008 - Elms College freshman outside hitter Alberto Bravo (Toa Baja, Puerto Rico) set a five-game school-record with 39 kills, but MIT used a solid defensive effort to eventually hold on for a thrilling 3-2 (30-17, 28-30, 30-20, 29-31, 19-17) win over the Blazers in Saturday night's non-conference men's volleyball match at the Maguire Center.
MIT, which was coming off a 3-0 sweep over No. 15 Milwaukee School of Engineering on Wednesday night, won its third straight match and improved to 14-8.
Elms College remained winless in 10 all-time meetings against MIT and fell to 9-7 overall.
In the deciding fifth game, the Blazers raced out to a 9-5 lead before the Engineers responded with four straight points to knot the game at 9-9.
From there, the two teams exchanged the lead six more ties and were tied six times with MIT twice staving off elimination at 16-15 and 17-16.
Trailing 17-16, senior outside hitter Praveen Pamidimukkala (Edison, NJ) knocked down consecutive kills to give MIT an 18-17 lead before junior middle hitter Scott Pollom (Indianapolis, IN) and freshman opposite Garrett Winther (Broomfield, CO) teamed up for a block on match-point to help seal the victory.
Senior setter Ryan Dean (Valencia, CA) was outstanding for MIT, as he handed out 55 assists and added a match-high 22 digs, Pamidimukkala added 14 kills and 12 digs, and 6-7 outside middle hitter Michael Demyttenaere (Brussels, Belgium) knocked down a team-high 17 kills and delivered a match-high four block solos.
Elms College freshman outside hitter Carlos DeLeon-Gomez (Carolina, Puerto Rico) was solid, as he blasted out 17 kills and added a team-high 20 digs, while junior outside hitter Marc Carrasco (Tucson, AZ) recorded 11 kills and scooped up 19 digs.
For the match, MIT hit .262, including a stellar .567 (18-1-30) in game three, had just one receiving error and registered 14.0 total blocks.
Elms College returns to NECVA New England Division play when it plays at Mount Ida on Wednesday, March 5. Match time is 7:00 p.m.