Men’s Volleyball Falls to Regis College, 3-0

CHICOPEE, Mass. – Elms College senior middle hitter Bryson Rainey (Brookline, Mass.) notched a match-high 18 kills but Regis College used a balanced attack from Jon Fuentes (Downey, Calif.), Sean Bisnett (Oxnard, Calif.) and Joe Coye (Plaistow, N.H.) who combined for 35 of the Pride's 44kills to help lead Regis to a 3-0 (25-18, 25-18, 26-24) victory in Saturday morning's New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) men's volleyball match at Picknelly Arena.

With the loss, Elms moves to 6-15 on the season, 4-6 in NECC action, while Regis improves to 11-9 overall, 5-5 in conference play.

Fuentes led Regis with 14 kills, followed by 11 from Bisnett and 10 from Coye, while setter Joe Hanrahan (Coventry, R.I.) dished out a match-best 36 assists and notched eight digs. Zach Sindoni (Haverhill, Mass.) recorded seven kills and a match-high 10 digs, while Angel Aguilar (Silver Springs, Md.) and Bisnett followed with seven and six digs respectively.

Bisnett added four aces and Aguilar followed with three aces as the pair combined for seven of the Pride's eight service aces to help spark the win.

Rainey led all hitters with 18 kills and added six digs, while senior opposite hitter Kordel Latimer (Lynn, Mass.) collected seven kills and a team-best eight digs.

Senior setter Kevin Welsh (Wilbraham, Mass.) directed the Blazers' offense with 26 assists, three kills and six digs, and sophomore libero Roger Conklin (Chicopee, Mass.) added six digs in the losing effort.

After falling behind 2-0 in the match, Elms posted an early 4-1 lead in the third frame before Regis rallied to knot the stanza at 10-10 on a ball handling error by the Blazers. The Pride then scored five of the next six points to set the score at 15-11.

Elms responded to take a 23-21 lead following an errant set by Regis before Sindoni and Bisnett registered back-to-back kills to level the score at 23-23. After the sides exchanged miscues, Bisnett and Fuentes delivered consecutive kills for the Pride to seal a hard-fought 26-24 victory in the set and preserve the sweep.

Elms returns to NECC action on Wednesday, April 2 when it travels to Bennington, Vt. for a match with Southern Vermont College at 7:00 p.m.