No. 13 MIT Sweeps Past Men’s Volleyball, 3-0

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – Elms College freshman middle hitter Bryson Rainey (Brookline, Mass.) downed a team-best seven kills but No. 13 Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) used a match-high 11-kill, five-ace effort from Billy Evans (San Diego, Calif.) to help the Engineers post a 3-0 (25-12, 25-18, 25-17) sweep of the Blazers in Tuesday evening's North East Collegiate Volleyball Association (NECVA) New England Division men's volleyball match.

With the loss, Elms slides to 8-11 overall, 7-6 in NECVA play, while nationally-ranked MIT improves to 19-5 on the season, 12-0 in NECVA action.

MIT raced out to a 16-4 lead in the first set before Elms stormed back scoring seven of the next 12 points to set the score at 21-11. The Engineers then used a 4-1 run of their own to close out the set and take a 1-0 lead in the contest.

Trailing 17-11 in the second frame, the Blazers put together a 4-1 spurt which narrowed the gap to three for the fourth time in the set. MIT countered with a 7-3 run to seal the stanza and build a comfortable 2-0 lead in the match.

The Engineers carried the momentum into the final set as they quickly established a 15-6 advantage. Elms battled back pulling to within five at 19-14 courtesy of a block by Rainey and senior outside hitter Joshua Chagnon (Loudon, N.H.). MIT scored five of the next seven points to set up match point at 24-16 but a strike by Elms' junior outside hitter Michael Martin (Enfield, Conn.) extended the frame. From there, Matt Hohenberger's (St. Louis, Mo.) floored a kill to lift the Engineers to the victory.

Hohenberger finished with nine kills, two blocks, and two aces, while David Thomas (Carlsbad, Calif.) totaled nine kills and three blocks for MIT.

Patrick Vatterott (St. Louis, Mo.) bolstered the Engineers' attack with eight kills while Garrett Winther (Broomfield, Col.) notched a pair of blocks.

Tim Lee (Natick, Mass.) compiled 32 assists, four digs, and two aces in the winning effort.

Rainey added eight digs and two blocks to his seven-kill effort, while junior middle hitter Yonalvy Acosta (Holyoke, Mass.) recorded four kills, one ace, and one block.

Martin collected a match-high 10 digs, while freshman setter Daniel Lebron (San Juan, Puerto Rico) rounded out the squad with 21 assists and seven digs.

Elms returns to New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) and NECVA New England action when it travels to Nashua, N.H. to face Daniel Webster College on Friday, March 4. Match-time is 6:00 p.m.