Men’s Volleyball Overcomes Slow Start for Home Victory

WESTON, Mass. – Regis College lost the first set, but then took control and won the next three sets to defeat Eastern Nazarene College, 3-1 (14-25, 25-17, 25-22, 26-24), Saturday afternoon in a non-conference men's collegiate volleyball match at Higgins Court.

Fernando Gomez (San Juan, Puerto Rico) led the Pride offensively with a career-high 14 kills, while Inelson Alves (Brockton, Mass.) finished with 10 kills and nine digs and Gueincy Clodomir (Pembroke Park, Fla.) also collected 10 kills. Brendan Lam (Rockville, Md.) dished out 39 assists, and Zabdiel Frias (Trujillo Alto, Puerto Rico) paced the Pride backline with a career-high 26 digs.

Eastern Nazarene scored five of the first six points of the match, and then the Lions put together a 10-1 scoring run to extend their lead to 16-5. Regis brought its deficit back into single digits by scoring four straight points late in the set, but the Lions closed out the opening set by earning four of the final five points, capped by a kill from Delfy Soler.

The Pride opened an 8-3 lead in the second set thanks to a 6-1 scoring run, followed by six unanswered points to extend their advantage to 14-6. After the Lions closed to within five, Regis pulled away again by rattling off four straight points, clinching the second set on a kill by Gomez to tie the match at one set apiece.

Regis took an early 5-2 lead in the third set on a service ace by Nathan Asstafan (Woonsocket, R.I.), but Eastern Nazarene quickly answered with a 7-2 scoring run of its own, led by Soler and Tim Eddings with two kills apiece, to pull ahead, 9-7. The Pride scored five straight points to retake the lead at 17-13, but the Lions came right back with four unanswered points, capped by consecutive service aces from Soler, to tie the set at 17-17.

The Pride took the lead for good in the third set on a kill by Dimitri Stewart (Paterson, N.J.) and a Lion attack error. After a kill by Soler brought the Lions within one at 22-21, Regis scored three of the final four points of the third set, with Gomez earning a kill and a solo block before Jack Wizboski (Townsend, Mass.) clinched the set with a kill.

A kill by Clodomir and a service ace from Asstafan allowed Regis to open the fourth set with a 4-1 lead, but the Lions used consecutive kills by Soler to gain the advantage at 5-4. The Pride put together a 7-1 scoring run, including two kills from Gomez, to jump back on top at 14-9, but Eastern Nazarene once again fought back, scoring six straight points to retake the lead at 17-16.

Down by one after a kill by Soler, Regis scored four of the next five points to take a two-point lead, and a kill by Gomez brought about match point. The Lions extended the contest on a kill by Soler and a Regis attack error, but the Pride finally closed out the set and the match on consecutive kills by Alves.

Soler led all players with 19 kills, plus he earned two service aces and seven digs, while Eddings finished with eight kills, two service aces, five digs, and five total blocks. Brandon Jenkins notched a double-double with 28 assists and a team-high 17 digs, Quinn Smith contributed 16 digs, and Chris Jaskiewicz added four kills and five total blocks.

The Pride earned more kills (45-33), service aces (7-4), and digs (71-63) than the Lions, but Eastern Nazarene finished with 10 team blocks against Regis' 6.5 team blocks. The third and fourth sets contained 26 ties, 13 in each set, and 11 lead changes.

Eastern Nazarene (8-7) opens its NECC schedule next week with road matches at Dean Monday, Feb. 24, at 5:30 p.m. and at Nichols next Saturday, Feb. 29, at a time still to be determined.

Regis (4-10) makes the trip to Nichols College to face the Bison Wednesday, Feb. 26, beginning at 7 p.m. After that contest, the Pride do not play again until after Spring Break, hosting Lasell in a GNAC matchup Thursday, March 12, at 7 p.m.