Regis Earns First GNAC Win of Season with Road Sweep

NEW LONDON, N.H. – Regis College battled through a close first set before prevailing and then used that momentum to complete a 3-0 victory (30-28, 25-20, 25-15) over Colby-Sawyer College Wednesday night in a Great Northeast Athletic Conference men's volleyball match at Coffin Field House.

Kostea Andreenko (Marstons Mills, Mass.) and Drew Beimel (Redondo Beach, Calif.) each finished with 12 kills, a season-high total for both players, with Andreenko making just one attack error for a .647 hitting percentage to go along with four total blocks. Brendan Lam (Rockville, Md.) moved into the setter position early in the match and finished with 28 assists and two service aces, while the Pride defense was led by Zabdiel Frias (Trujillo Alto, Puerto Rico) with 16 digs and Inelson Alves (Brockton, Mass.) with 11 digs.

Colby-Sawyer (6-6, 0-4 GNAC) scored the first two points of the match on kills by Nate Trevino and Orlando Plagata, but Regis responded with four straight points to pull ahead, 4-2. With the score tied at 9-9, the Pride scored three unanswered points to take the lead, but eventually the Chargers would work their way back into a tie at 19-19 on a kill by Eric Miller.

Trevino notched a block and a kill and Miller earned another kill to create the first set point in the Chargers' favor, but Beimel extended the set with two kills and a solo block, giving Regis its first opportunity to win the set. Colby-Sawyer created another chance to close out the opening set thanks in part to a kill by Yannick Gonsalves, but the Pride finally prevailed thanks to consecutive kills by Andreenko and a Charger attack error.

The two teams split the first eight points of the second set before Regis snuck ahead on an Andreenko service ace, 6-4. Colby-Sawyer rattled off five straight points later in the set to establish a 14-10 advantage, but the Pride quickly responded with five unanswered points of their own. Regis would close out the second set by outscoring the Chargers 9-4, led by three kills from Beimel.

A service ace by Lam and a kill from Sebastian Valdes (Diamond Bar, Calif.) helped Regis open the third set with a 5-2 lead, but Colby-Sawyer quickly rebounded, tying the set at 6-6 on a kill by Gonsalves. Kills by Fernando Gomez (San Juan, Puerto Rico) and Alves put the Pride back on top, and then Regis extended that lead with a 9-1 scoring run. Regis closed out the third set and the match on a kill by Beimel.

Plagata led the Chargers with nine kills and 10 digs, while Patrick Coffey contributed seven kills and three total blocks. AJ Gnieski dished out 24 assists, but the service game hurt Colby-Sawyer, as the Chargers committed 14 service errors while earning just two service aces.

Regis (6-7, 1-3 GNAC) will not play again until after Spring Break, stepping out of conference for a road contest at Bard Tuesday, March 12, starting at 7 p.m. The Pride are scheduled to play their first home game in a month when they host Lasell and Emmanuel in a GNAC tri-match Saturday, March 16, beginning at 10 a.m. at Higgins Court.