Welsh Eyes Milestone as Blazers Prepare for Regis

Chris Kendrick (@CKendrick86)

CHICOPEE, Mass. – The Elms College men's volleyball team will look to register their first conference victory as they travel to Weston, Massachusetts for a New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) tilt against Regis College Tuesday night at Higgins Court at 7:00 p.m.

The Blazers enter the matchup with a 3-16 overall mark, and a 0-6 record in NECC play. Freshman Gabriel Reis Levy (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) has paced Elms offensively with a team-best 173 kills, ranking third in the NECC, along with a team-high 137 digs, fourth-most in the league, and a team-high 37 blocks. Reis Levy is coming off his best performance of the season, recording season-highs in kills (20) and digs (24) in a five-set loss at Daniel Webster. Classmate Daniel Bondarovsky (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) has tallied 127 kills, tenth-most in the league, with 83 digs, and 23 blocks. Senior setter Kevin Welsh (Wilbraham, Mass.) sits three assists shy of the 2,000 career assist plateau after logging 409 assists this season, ranking third in the conference. Welsh's 6.10 assists per set ranks fourth in the NECC, while adding 87 digs, 22 kills and 20 blocks. Freshman Blake Fry (Natick, Mass.) has added 45 kills with 66 digs, and junior Cristian Arroyo (Chicopee, Mass.) has notched 40 kills and 31 blocks.

As a team, the Blazers ranks third in the NECC in blocks (111), while placing fourth in kills (501), assists (446), and digs (559).

Regis College sits at 5-14 on the season, and 2-4 in league play. The Pride are 2-2 in their last four matches, sandwiching wins over Lesley (3-0) and Sage (3-0), with losses to Endicott (0-3) and Johnson & Wales (0-3). A pair of freshman leads the Pride attack in Marcos Aguirre (Norwalk, Calif.) and Brett Krahl (Santa Clara, Calif.). Aguirre knocked a team-best 106 kills, while Krahl has 105 kills with the fourth-best in hitting percentage with a .249 mark. Krahl defends the net for the Pride with a team-best 55 blocks, averaging nearly a block a set, ranking second in the conference. Sophomore Sean Bisnett (Oxnard, Calif.) grabbed a team-high 128 digs, fifth-most in the league, while freshman Josiah Roque (Oxnard, Calif.) has 89 kills, 85 digs, and 24 blocks for Regis. The Pride patrol the tandem of freshman Ryan Husher (Camarillo, Calif.) and sophomore Joe Hanrahan (Coventry, R.I.) for setting duties, with each recording 253, and 227 assists, respectively.

As a team, the Pride ranks second in the conference in blocks (133), while sitting third in digs (635), kills (592), and assists (526); and fourth in service aces (61).

Over the history of the matchup, the Blazers own an 8-2 edge over the Pride in 10 career meeting. Elms defeated Regis in straight sets in eight consecutive meetings, but the Pride have taken the last two matches, 6-1, over the Blazers.

ELMS VOLLEYBALL