CHICOPEE, Mass. – Southern Vermont College fell 3-2 at Elms College Saturday afternoon in New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) men's volleyball action at Picknelly Arena.
Elms senior middle hitter Bryson Rainey (Brookline, Mass.) floored a match-high 29 kills, becoming the program's all-time leader in the category, to help propel the Blazers to the hard-fought victory that improves the team's record to 5-11, 3-2 in NECC play. SVC falls to 8-7 on the year, 4-2 against the league.
Southern Vt. took the first set 25-16 before EC came back to win the next two by scores of 25-23 and 30-28. The Mountaineers were able to extend the match with a 25-20 fourth frame win before Elms closed out the day with a 15-12 advantage in the decisive set.
Southern Vt. hit a strong .307 for the match guided by senior Anthony Ayala's (Pico Rivera, Calif.) 55 assists. Senior Anthony Barahona (Eagle Rock, Calif.) pounded a team-high 21 kills and added nine digs while junior Keven Walley (Pico Rivera, Calif.) followed with 15 kills, four service aces and a team-best 11 digs. Junior Scott Fitzgerald (Fort Edward, N.Y.) chipped in 11 kills and six digs, and junior Joey Dighton (Riverside, Calif.) contributed nine kills. In addition to his 55 helpers, Ayala notched seven digs, while junior libero Florentino Escovedo (Fresno, Calif.) recorded nine digs.
Elms' senior setter Kevin Welsh (Wilbraham, Mass.) directed the Blazers' attack, handing out 61 assists and guiding Elms to a .297 overall hitting percentage. Junior middle hitter Angel Castro (Carolina, Puerto Rico) downed 21 kills, and senior opposite hitter Kordel Latimer (Lynn, Mass.) finished with 16 kills and a match-high 16 digs to help seal the win. Castro added 11 digs and Rainey added eight digs while freshman middle hitter Dervin Dimanche (Queens, N.Y.) registered a solo block and two assisted blocks.
In a match that was well played throughout by both teams, Southern Vt. fended off the Blazers in the fourth set with a 25-20 win, capped by a kill by Dighton to set up the decisive fifth stanza.
Elms registered an early 3-0 lead in the final game behind an assisted block by Dimanche and Rainey and then a solo stuff by Rainey. The Mountaineers answered by scoring four of the next six points using kills from Walley and Barahona to pull Southern Vt. to within one at 5-4. A kill and a solo block by Castro helped the Blazers string together three straight points and take an 8-4 lead in the frame.
With the score set at 14-10 in favor of Elms, Barahona delivered a kill, and the Mountaineers used a Blazers' attacking error to pull to within two at 14-12. Latimer responded with a kill to complete the thrilling five-set victory.
Rainey, who smashed 29 kills on 55 swings with just six misfires (.418 hitting percentage), passed previous record-holder Alberto Bravo who set the program mark of 973 kills in 2009. Rainey now has 974 kills for his career and is just 26 kills shy of becoming the first player in program history to register 1,000 kills.
Next up for the Mountaineers is a 7 p.m. home match against Regis College on Wednesday while the Blazers turn to their hosting of Endicott College at 6 p.m. on Wednesday.