Ashland, VA - Before the winter storm arrives, the Regent University Men's Volelyball team traveled north to participate in the RMC Invitational which began on Friday.  First up would be Gallaudet University, a team The Royals have never faced in its short program history.  Although the Regent would fall by a final score of 3-0 (21-25, 18-25, 22-25), they battled in each set,and were able to put together a number of strong rallies, forcing the Bison on their heels at times.

In the opening set, the Royals jumped out to an early lead and kept the score tight before Gallaudet pulled away late. Regent recorded 6 services aces across the match with Senior Keith Larkin (Snohomish, WA) leading the way with 3 aces and 6 kills, while Graduate Student.Jaxson Gray (Chesapeake, VA) provided an offensive spark with 6 kills on an impressive .357 hitting percentage, to go along with a block and an ace.  In addition, Freshman Sam Parsons (Fayetteville, NC) was consistent at the net with 5 kills and defensively finished with 8 digs as Senior Preston Nemeti (Burke, VA) chipped in with 4 kills.  Coming off his best career performance this past week, Sophomore Theydon Roles (King George, VA) added 3 kills off the bench, while on the back row, Senior Ariel Downer (Spring Lake, NC) anchored the defense with 11 digs, as the team finished with a total of 50 digs.  

The Royals will continue their play in the RMC Invitational when they are back in action tomorrow, Saturday, January 31st when face host Randolph-Macon College at 10:00am and then Marymount University at 12:00pm.