Men’s Volleyball Powers Past Newbury College, 3-0

CHICOPEE, Mass. – Elms College senior middle hitter Bryson Rainey (Brookline, Mass.) downed a match-high 17 kills and match-best 13 digs to lead three players with double-digit kills and senior setter Kevin Welsh (Wilbraham, Mass.) handed out 44 assists to pace the Blazers to a 3-0 (26-24, 29-27, 25-14) sweep of Newbury College in Saturday afternoon's New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) men's volleyball game at Picknelly Arena.

With the win, Elms improves to 4-8 overall, 2-1 in NECC action, while Newbury falls to 1-12 overall, 1-3 in conference play.

Rainey lead three Blazers with double-digit kills, downing 17 on 33 swings with just four errors (.394). Junior middle hitter Angel Castro (Carolina, Puerto Rico) followed with 16 kills and 10 digs, and senior opposite hitter Kordel Latimer (Lynn, Mass.) added 11 kills and six digs in the winning effort.

Welsh directed the offense with 44 assists and added 10 digs, while freshman libero Ian Isgut (San Juan, Puerto Rico) notched eight digs. Latimer registered two solo blocks while freshman middle hitter Austin DeCosmo (Tolland, Mass.) and freshman middle hitter Christian Arroyo (Chicopee, Mass.) assisted on two blocks each.

Newbury received 12 kills each from Jake Powell (Salinas, Calif.) and Chi Yin Li (Framingham, Mass.), and Billy Stephen (Windermere, Fla.) followed with six kills. Li led the Nighthawks with 11 digs, followed by eight from Stephen, seven from Roshon De Alwis (Winchester, Mass.) and six from Patrick Robidoux (Barrington, R.I.).

Stephen added three assisted blocks, while Robidoux added 31 assists in the losing effort.

In the opening set, the teams battled to five tie scores and a lead change before Elms mounted a 24-19 lead following an attacking error by Newbury. Li and Powell each floored a kill and Powell and Stephen combined on a block to highlight a five-point run by the Nighthawks to level the score at 24-24. From there, the Blazers capitalized on a serving error and used a kill from Castro to claim the first frame, 26-24.

In the second set, the sides again battled back and forth, this time to a total of 19 tie scores and 11 lead changes. With the stanza deadlocked at 27-27 Rainey powered down a kill and Arroyo and Welsh provided an assisted block to give Elms a 2-0 lead in the contest.

In the third set, Elms soared to a 20-7 and extended that lead to 24-13 before a service error momentarily halted the momentum. A service error by the Nighthawks on the ensuing play allowed the Blazers to clinch the third set, 25-14 and complete the sweep.

Elms returns to non-league action on Thursday, February 27 when it travels to MIT for a 7:00 p.m. contest with the Engineers.