Men's Volleyball Sweeps Conference Tri-Match

Chris Kendrick (@CKendrick86)

CHICOPEE, Mass. – The Elms College men's volleyball team posted a pair of victories during a New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) tri-match against visiting Southern Vermont College and Eastern Nazarene College at Picknelly Arena Saturday afternoon. The Blazers downed the Mountaineers, 3-0 (25-12, 25-12, 25-17), and then clipped the Lions in straight sets, 3-0 (25-16, 25-16, 25-19).

The Blazers improved to 14-7 overall and 6-2 in the NECC, while the Mountaineers dropped to 3-17 and 1-5, and the Lions moved to 7-7 and 3-5 in league play.

Match 1: Elms 3, Southern Vermont 0 (25-10, 25-12, 25-17)

The Blazers cruised through the first set of action, jumping to a 6-3 lead behind a trio of kills from junior Daniel Bondarovsky (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) and two service aces from classmate Gabriel Reis Levy (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil). Reis Levy added two more kills, along with a strike from freshman David Hernandez (Springfield, Mass.) to push Elms to a 14-5 lead. Elms junior Blake Fry (Natick, Mass.) and senior Dervin Dimanche (Queens, N.Y.) helped escort the lead to 19-7, and then Hernandez delivered a pair of late kills to seal the 25-10 win.

Reis Levy served up a trio of aces at the service line to hand the Blazers a 6-3 lead in the second set. Elms racked up six straight kills, featuring three slams from Reis Levy to hold a 13-6 edge. Elms junior DJ Sherman (Winstead, Conn.) notched an ace, along with kills from Bondarovsky and senior Qua'Sean Crowe (Stamford, Conn.) to expand the gap to 17-7. Fry logged three kills down the stretch, and Elms wrapped up the 25-12 win with a strike from Dimanche and a solo block from Bondarovsky. 

In the final set, errors helped the Blazers to an early lead, followed by back-to-back kills from Crowe and Hernandez to put Elms up 8-3. After tallies from Bondarovsky and Crowe, Dimanche delivered consecutive kills to double the Blazers advantage over Southern Vermont, 14-7. Fry and Hernandez traded kills, and then Hernandez and junior Kahlil Peters (Hartford, Conn.) went back-to-back to increase the Elms lead to 20-11. After errors closed the gap to 22-15, the Blazers wrapped up the match with kills from Crowe and Bondarovksy to seal the 25-17 win.

The Blazers orchestrated a balanced offensive attack with six players posting five-plus kills, led by a match-high seven kills from Hernandez. Bondarovsky snared a match-high 11 digs with six kills, while Crowe and Fry provided six kills apiece. Reis Levy notched five kills and five service aces, and Dimanche chipped in five kills in the win. Peters logged a match-high 22 assists with four digs in the win.

Match 3: Elms 3, Eastern Nazarene 0 (25-16, 25-16, 25-19)

The Blazers coasted to a 10-2 advantage in the first set behind a pair of kills from Bondarovsky and Hernandez. Reis Levy slammed two kills and an ace to add to the Elms advantage, followed by two more kills from Bondarovsky to escort the Blazers lead to 19-9. Reis Levy chipped in a pair of kills down the stretch as Elms capitalized on Lions errors to wrap up the 25-16 win.

Play was tight in the onset of the second set as a kill from Crowe put Elms up 5-3, but the Lions answered on strikes from junior Andrew Shaw (Weymouth, Mass.) and freshman Derek Fowler (Williamstown, N.J.) to even the scoreboard at 6-6. Bondarovsky delivered a strike and Crowe served an ace to help the Blazers regain a 10-6 lead. Peters sandwiched kills around tallies from Bondarovsky, Reis Levy and Dimanche to build a 17-10 gap. Crowe and Fowler traded kills and errors at the service line, and then Reis Levy registered another kill to put Elms ahead 20-14. Bondarovsky added a pair of strikes en route to the 25-16 win.

Kills from Reis Levy and an ace from Dimanche gave the Blazers a 5-2 lead to start the final set. Fry and Reis Levy knocked a pair of kills, followed by an ace from senior Austin DeCosmo (Southwick, Mass.) to create a 12-7 lead. After an ace from Lions sophomore Brandon Jenkins (Norton, Mass.) closed the deficit to 15-11, Fry and senior Aaron Fogle (Queens Village, N.Y.) recorded kills, followed by a pair of slams by Reis Levy to expand the Blazers advantage to 21-15. A 3-1 run by the Lions trimmed the lead to 22-18, but strikes from Dimanche, Fogle and Reis Levy wrapped up the 25-19 victory.

Reis Levy powered the Blazers attack with a match-high 15 kills with five digs, three assists and two aces. Bondarovsky contributed eight kills and four digs, while Dimanche, Hernandez, Fry, and Fogle chipped in three kills each. Sophomore John Dunphy (Farmington, Conn.) totaled a team-high 16 assists, and Peters recorded 15 assists, two kills and two digs.

The Blazers will return to action with a conference road trip to Endicott College Wednesday night for a 6:00 p.m. match.

ELMS VOLLEYBALL