Men’s Volleyball Earns Split In Saturday Tri-Match With Newbury College And Mount Ida College

Box Scores

CHICOPEE, Mass. – Elms College freshman middle hitter Bryson Rainey (Brookline, Mass.) notched 17 kills and totaled 11 digs in the Blazers' 3-2 (21-25, 25-23, 19-25, 25-20, 15-12) victory over Mount Ida College to help his squad earn a split in Saturday afternoon's men's volleyball tri-match at Picknelly Arena.

Elms suffered a 3-1 (25-15, 18-25, 21-25, 10-25) loss to Newbury College in the first match of the day, while the Nighthawks posted a 3-1 (25-15, 25-22, 20-25, 25-18) victory over Mount Ida in Saturday's second contest.

Elms moves to 3-6 overall, 2-2 in North East Collegiate Volleyball Association (NECVA) New England Division, and 1-1 in New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) play. Newbury improves to 4-5 on the season, 1-1 in NECVA action, and 1-0 in NECC play. Mount Ida slides to 0-5 overall.

Match 1 – Newbury 3, Elms 1

In the opening contest, Rainey downed 10 kills and junior opposite hitter Michael Kleckner (Bethlehem, Pa.) added nine kills to lead Elms in the loss.

The Blazers, who won the first set 25-15 behind stellar setting from freshmen setters Kevin Welsh (Wilbraham, Mass.) and Daniel Lebron (San Juan, Puerto Rico), lost the next three sets as Newbury's Matt Talamantes (Los Angeles, Calif.) paced the Nighthawks' offensive attack with 28 assists.

Max Daley (Cranston, R.I.) paved the way with nine kills against the Blazers, while James Beck (Havre De Grace, Md.) chipped in with a team-best 10 digs and downed seven service aces. Dan Davison (Howell, N.J.) added three assisted blocks to help secure the victory.

Welsh dished out 14 assists, while Lebron handed out 13 helpers in the losing effort. Rainey finished with a match-high 11 digs in addition to 10 kills.

Match 2 – Newbury 3, Mount Ida 1

Newbury took an early 2-0 lead in its 3-1 victory over Mount Ida as the Nighthawks used high-percentage offense from Daley and Talamantes who downed 12 and 10 kills respectively in the contest. Talamantes added 14 assists while Alex Amylon (Scituate, R.I.) dished out 11 to help pace the Nighthawks.

The Mustangs won the third frame 25-20, but Newbury pulled away in the fourth set with a 25-18 win to seal it's second straight 3-1 victory of the day.  

The Mustangs were led by Thomas Belton (Springfield, Mass.) who downed a team-high 10 kills, while Shane Wilson (Gloucester, Mass.) distributed a match-best 29 assists and added eight digs.

Belton and Ricky Oliveira (New Bedford, Mass.) totaled nine digs each, while Belton assisted on three blocks in the loss.

Match 3 – Elms 3, Mount Ida 2

In a thrilling back-and-forth final match, junior outside hitter Michael Martin (Enfield, Conn.) nailed two kills and Rainey, junior outside hitter Yonalvy Acosta (Holyoke, Mass.) and sophomore outside hitter Stephen Cameron (Newington, Conn.) added a kill each to help Elms break a 9-9 deadlock in the deciding fifth set and score six of the final nine points to capture a 3-2 victory over Mount Ida.

Rainey's 17 kills led three Blazers in double figures as Acosta and Cameron registered 14 and 10 kills respectively.

Lebron finished with 31 assists, while Welsh dealt out 13 helpers. Rainey and Cameron tied for a match-high in digs with 11 to help seal the win.

The Mustangs received a match-high 20-kill effort from Spencer Hastings (Orlando, Fla.), while Wilson was tremendous in running the Mount Ida offense, dishing out a match-high 42 assists. Hastings also notched 10 digs in the losing effort.

Elms returns to NECVA New England action on Thursday, Feb. 3 when it hosts Endicott College at 7:00 p.m.