Men's Volleyball Wrap Regular Season With Sweep at Lesley

Chris Kendrick (@CKendrick86)

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – The Elms College men's volleyball team wrapped up the regular season with a three-set sweep of host Lesley University in New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) action at the Nicholas Athletic Center Tuesday night. The Blazers improved to 12-14 on the season, and 4-6 in conference play, while Lesley falls to 0-8 in the league, and 0-16 overall.

In the first set, play was back-and-forth to open play until a Blazers block and Lynx error handed Elms a 7-4 lead. The Lynx trimmed the deficit to 8-7 on a kill from junior Tyler Burns (Newtown, Pa.), but the Blazers answered with a slam from senior Jamaal Gary (Bloomfield, Conn.) to make it 10-7. Elms maintained their advantage behind a pair of kills from Gary and a strike from junior Qua'Sean Crowe (Stamford, Conn.) to build a 17-14 lead. Lesley rallied back with two kills from junior Jason Hulteen (Galena, Ohio), followed by a pair of errors by the Blazers, to pull within a point, 21-20. Elms closed out the victory as senior Angel Castro (Carolina, Puerto Rico) tallied three kills to lock up the 25-23 win.

The Blazers jumped to a 41- lead in the second set on kills from sophomore Daniel Bondarovsky (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) and a service ace from freshman Jequan Rogers (Springfield, Mass.). Lesley responded with a 7-2 run, featuring two kills from senior Chris Barletta (Valrico, Fla.), to take an 8-6 lead. The Blazers regained a 10-8 lead with four unanswered points. Tied at 13-13, the Blazers built a 17-14 advantage, but a 6-2 run by the Lynx put Lesley ahead 20-19. Back-to-back kills from junior Dervin Dimanche (Queens, N.Y.) and Bondarovsky gave Elms a 20-19 lead, but kills from Burns and Barletta handed the Lynx a 21-20 advantage. Elms rattled off four straight points, capped off by kills from Castro and Bondarovsky, to claim the 25-21 win.

Elms grabbed a 5-1 lead in the final set on another ace from Rogers. The Blazers kept the Lynx at bay, outscoring Lesley, 8-5, to possess a 13-6 lead. The Lynx cut into the deficit with a 4-0 streak, featuring aces from Burns, followed by kills from Barletta to make it a 15-14 game. Gary and Lesley junior Jacob DiDomenico (N. Providence, R.I.) traded solo blocks to put the score at 18-16. Bondarovsky knocked a pair of kills to push the Blazers lead to 22-19. Elms wrapped up the 25-19 win with an ace from Rogers and a kill from Dimanche. 

Castro led the Blazers attack with a match-high 13 kills and five digs. Bondarovsky logged a double-double with 12 kills and a match-high 12 digs, while Gary slammed a career-high seven kills with two blocks. Sophomore Kahlil Peters (Hartford, Conn.) dished out a career-high 33 assists with four digs, while junior Austin DeCosmo (Southwick, Mass.) grabbed nine digs in the win.

Lesley was paced by nine-kill efforts from Burns and Barletta. Burns added eight digs and three aces, while Barletta had five digs. DiDomenico tallied six kills and a match-high seven blocks, and sophomore Karuna Chiemruom (Cranston, R.I.) totaled 21 assists.

The Blazers will return to action in the NECC Championship Tournament Friday, April 8^th at the site of the top-seed in the tournament. Lesley travels to Newbury for an NECC match Thursday at 7:00 p.m.

ELMS VOLLEYBALL