Season Ends for Men’s Volleyball with GNAC First Round Loss

BOSTON - Regis College battled throughout the night, but Emmanuel College's offensive production proved to be too much to handle, as the fourth seeded Saints defeated the fifth seeded Pride, 3-0 (25-23, 25-22, 25-18), Tuesday night in the first round of the Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) Men's Volleyball Tournament at the Jean Yawkey Center.

Joseph Perez (Miami, Fla.) led the Pride with 14 kills, plus he hit .269 in the match and collected five defensive digs. Eddie Djatcha (Lowell, Mass.) and Brandon Valdes (Miami, Fla.) earned six kills each, Tyrell Bucasas (Waialua, Hawaii) finished with 26 assists and seven digs, and Orlando Plagata (Los Angeles, Calif.) paced the backline with eight digs.

The two teams combined for just three attack errors in the first set as Emmanuel was able to open an 11-8 advantage on consecutive kills from Michael Shelley. Down 19-14 later in the set, Regis scored four straight points, with Plagata notching a service ace and an assist on a Perez kill, but the Saints stopped the scoring run thanks to another kill by Shelley and a solo block from Louis Da Silva. Emmanuel was able to take advantage of a Regis service error to close out the opening set.

In the second set, Regis forced 10 ties but was unable to pull ahead. Down 20-17 after a block by Da Silva and Trey Guest, the Pride scored three quick points on consecutive kills by Perez and a kill from Djatcha, but three straight Regis errors allowed the Saints to retake the lead. Shelley brought about set point with a kill, and Emmanuel again won the set thanks to a Pride error.

Emmanuel (17-9) took the early lead in the third set, but Valdes notched back-to-back kills to tie the set at 6-6. The Saints went on a 5-1 scoring run, led by a kill and a service ace from Jyles Amirault, to open an 11-7 advantage, but the Pride again responded, closing to within one point at 15-14 on a kill by Perez.

The Saints put the set and the match away thanks to an 8-1 scoring run that increased their lead to 23-15. The Pride stayed in the contest with a kill by Perez and a bad set from Emmanuel, but a kill by Shelley closed out the third set and sent the Saints into the semifinals of the GNAC Tournament against top seed Wentworth.

Shelley finished the night with 16 kills and a .414 hitting percentage, while Amirault earned 11 kills on 21 attack attempts for a .524 hitting percentage. Dominic DeFerrari dished out 29 assists, Guest contributed four service aces and three block assists, and Nick Sciabica led the Saints with eight defensive digs.

Regis College ends the 2024 season with a 10-19 overall record.