Men’s Volleyball Powers Past Southern Vermont College, 3-2, Rainey Becomes Program’s All-Time Leader in Kills

CHICOPEE, Mass. – Elms College senior middle hitter Bryson Rainey (Brookline, Mass.) floored a match-high 29 kills and became the program's all-time leader in kills to help propel the Blazers to a hard-fought, 3-2 (16-25, 25-23, 30-28, 20-25, 15-12) victory in Saturday afternoon's New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) men's volleyball contest at Picknelly Arena.

With the win, Elms improves to 5-11 overall, 3-2 in NECC play, while Southern Vermont moves to 8-7 overall, 4-2 in league action.

Rainey, who smashed 29 kills on 55 swings with just six misfires (.418 hitting percentage), passed previous record-holder Alberto Bravo who set the program mark of 973 kills in 2009. Rainey now has 974 kills for his career and is just 26 kills shy of becoming the first player in program history to register 1,000 kills.

Elms' senior setter Kevin Welsh (Wilbraham, Mass.) directed the Blazers' attack handing out 61 assists and guiding Elms to a .297 overall hitting percentage. Junior middle hitter Angel Castro (Carolina, Puerto Rico) downed 21 kills and senior opposite hitter Kordel Latimer (Lynn, Mass.) finished with 16 kills and a match-high 16 digs to help seal the win.

Castro added 11 digs and Rainey added eight digs, while freshman middle hitter Dervin Dimanche (Queens, N.Y.) registered a solo block and two assisted blocks.

Southern Vermont hit .307 for the match guided by Anthony Ayala's (Pico Rivera, Calif.) 55 assists. Anthony Barahona (Eagle Rock, Calif.) pounded a team-high 21 kills and added nine digs, while Keven Walley (Pico Rivera, Calif.) followed with 15 kills, four service aces and a team-best 11 digs.

Scott Fitzgerald (Fort Edward, N.Y.) chipped in 11 kills and six digs, and Joey Dighton (Riverside, Calif.) contributed nine kills. In addition to his 55 helpers, Ayala notched seven digs, while libero Florentino Escovedo (Fresno, Calif.) recorded nine digs.

In a match that was well played throughout by both teams, Southern Vermont fended off the Blazers in the fourth set with a 25-20 win in the frame, capped by a kill by Dighton to set up the decisive fifth stanza.

Elms registered an early 3-0 lead behind an assisted block from Dimanche and Rainey and a solo stuff by Rainey before the Mountaineers answered by scoring four of the next six points using kills from Walley and Barahona to pull Southern Vermont to within one at 5-4. A kill and a solo block by Castro helped the Blazers string together three straight points and take an 8-4 lead in the frame.

With the score set at 14-10 in favor of Elms, Barahona delivered a kill and the Mountaineers used a Blazers' attacking error to pull to within two at 14-12, but Latimer responded with a kill to complete the thrilling five-set victory.

Elms returns to NECC action on Wednesday, March 19 when it hosts Endicott College at 6:00 p.m. at Picknelly Arena.