EAGLES FEND OFF PRIDE, HANG ON 3-0

WESTON, Mass. – Daniel Webster College fought off a late Regis College rally in the third set to hang on for a 3-0 victory over the Pride on Wednesday night in New England Collegiate Conference men's volleyball action. The Eagles (8-5, 4-0 NECC) used set scores of 25-10, 25-15, 25-23 to upend the Pride (1-6, 1-3 NECC).

Daniel Webster raced out to an early 10-4 lead following a Jeff Chen (Milford, Mass.) service and the Eagles made it 17-8 lead following a Regis College service error. Another Pride misstep at the service line extended the DWC advantage to 19-9 before a Joe Walz (East Longmeadow, Mass.) and Jose Vargas (Lawrence, Mass.) block ended the opening set, 25-10.

Trailing 8-2 in the second set, the Pride battled back to make it a 9-7 game by using a 5-1 run highlighted by a Claude Jean (Rindge, N.H.) block and an Evan Stone (Stockton, Calif.) kill off a pass from Angel Aguilar (Silver Springs, Md.). Joe Coye's (Plaistow, N.H.) kill off a pass from Aguilar made it a 16-11 deficit for the Pride, but Daniel Webster took advantage of several Pride errors down the stretch to pick up the 25-15 win.

Another Coye kill early in the third game gave Regis its first 3-1 advantage of the day, and the Pride led as late as 8-5 following an Eagles attack error. The Eagles battled back as Vargas and Ariel Frias (Lawrence, Mass.) combined to block a Stone attempt and give DWC an 11-8 edge. Alex Caliendo (Windsor, Conn.) picked up his first service ace of the night to make it an 11-10 game.

The teams traded points until a Joe Coye solo block gave the Pride an 18-17 lead. Ryan Howdeshell (Fairbanks, Alaska) tied the game at 18-all and a Kyle Clement (Weymouth, Mass.) service ace put the Eagles back on top 19-18. A pair of Eagles errors kept Regis in the game at 23-22, and a monster kill from Claude Jean made it a 24-23 deficit. On the Pride's final serve, DWC's Darrien Mason (Farmington, Conn.) blocked an Alex Caliendo attack to seal the game 25-23 in favor of the visitors.

Joe Coye led the Pride with four kills and also added a pair of solo blocks. Claude Jean and Dan Berdichevsky (Wayland, Mass.) added three kills apiece. Berdichevsky, Alex Caliendo, and Chris Ibasco (Milford, Mass.) paced the Pride defense with three digs apiece. Angel Aguilar dished out a game-high 13 assists for Regis. The Pride struggled from the service line, committing 17 service errors on the night.

Daniel Webster's Jose Vargas led the Eagles with five kills and three total blocks on the night. Tyler Little (Marlboro, Mass.) and Joe Walz added four kills apiece, while Ryan Howdeshell and Joel Hendrix added three kills each. Ariel Frias and Kyle Clement combined for 17 assists on the night, and Howdeshell and Kyle Lovering (Manchester, N.H.) led the Eagles defense with four digs apiece.

The Pride return to action on Saturday night when Regis travels to Elms College for a 5:00 p.m. NECC contest. Daniel Webster wastes no time getting back on the court, travelling to Emerson for a 7:00 p.m. on Wednesday night.