Men’s Volleyball Falls to Regis College, 3-1

WESTON, Mass. – Elms College senior middle hitter Bryson Rainey (Brookline, Mass.) notched a team-high 17 kills and tied for the match-high in digs with 11, but Regis College used a match-high 18-kill, 8-dig effort from Sean Bisnett (Oxnard, Calif.) and Zach Sindoni (Haverhill, Mass.) floored eight aces to help spark the Pride to a 3-1 (25-20, 25-19, 22-25, 26-24) victory in Friday afternoon's men's volleyball match at Higgins Court in Weston, Mass.

With the loss, Elms moves to 2-6 overall, 0-1 in NECC action, while Regis improves to 3-3 overall, 1-1 in league play.

After falling behind, 2-0 in the contest, Elms roared back in the third set which was ignited by an 8-4 run to start the frame. Regis answered by scoring seven of the next 10 points to even the match at 11-11. Elms' senior outside hitter Kordel Latimer (Lynn, Mass.) and the Pride's Joe Coye (Plaistow, N.H.) exchanged kills before the Blazers registered five straight points highlighted by three consecutive Rainey terminations to give Elms a 17-12 advantage.

A kill by Rainey extended Elms' lead to 23-17 but Regis fought back capitalizing on a pair of Blazers' miscues to pull to within four at 23-19. Junior middle hitter Angel Castro (Carolina, Puerto Rico) pounded down a kill to set the score at 24-19 but Regis again answered using a kill by Coye and an assisted block from Coye and Bisnett along with an Elms attacking error to mark the score at 24-22. Rainey then delivered a kill to give the Blazers a 25-22 victory in the stanza and set the match at 2-1.

In a tightly contested fourth set, the sided battled to a 22-22 tie before Castro and freshman outside hitter Ian Isgut (San Juan, Puerto Rico) connected for back-to-back kills to set the score to 24-22. A kill by Bisnett and an attacking error by Elms leveled the frame at 24-24 before a second consecutive attacking error by the Blazers and a service ace from Sindoni allowed the Pride to capture a 26-24 victory in the set and clinch a 3-1 win in the match.

Rainey hit at a stellar .469 clip for the match while Castro chipped in 15 kills and was one of three players to record six digs. Isgut and Latimer each notched six digs and Latimer finished with six kills in defeat for Elms.

Senior setter Kevin Welsh (Wilbraham, Mass.) dished out 39 assists, while Rainey added a pair of aces.

Regis was led by Bisnett's 18-kill effort, while Sindoni served up eight aces, dished out 43 helpers, and tied for the match-high in digs with 11. Coye finished with nine kills and nine digs, while Bryan Camillo (Lawrence, Mass.) added nine digs and six kills.

Jon Fuentes (Downey, Calif.) also finished with double-digit kills for the Pride (12).

Elms returns to non-conference action on Saturday, February 8 when it travels to Emmanuel College in Boston, Mass. for a 3:30 p.m. contest.