Asheville, NC – The weekend was an opportunity for the Regent University Men's Volleyball team to make the trip from the Beach to the Blue Ridge Mountains to face Warren Wilson College. While the two programs are fellow members of the Coast-To-Coast Conference, they are also very familiar with each other, having played a number of times over the past year. The Royals were coming off a weekend where they competed against some of the best teams on the East Coast and they were looking to take those lessons they learned into today's match-up.
Regent jumped out to a quick four-point lead in the first set behind Seniors Keith Larkin (Snohomosh, WA) and Lucas Whitman (Suffolk). However, the Owls would go on a run and eventually take the advantage 10-7. A kill by Larkin stopped the momentum and then back-to-back kills from Graduate Student Jaxon Gray (Chesapeake, VA) tied the score. On the next play, Sophomore Theydon Roles (Prince George, VA) delivered a big block at the net and then Freshman Sam Parsons (Fayetteville, NC) and Senior Preston Nemeti (Burke, VA) scored on kills to give the Royals the three-point advantage. Nemeti would do add two more kills, but the score eventually was tied at 24-24, and the Owls would win the set 27-25.
Both teams traded points to begin the second set as Nemeti delivered another strong kill. A kill by Gray tied the score and that was followed by a strong swing from Larkin. A few plays later, Larkin scored on a block to keep Regent within striking distance and then he would add points from his serve. Nemeti was finding his groove in the set with scoring on kills and that was keeping the Royals in it. They made a run and cut the deficit to four points however; they were unable to close the gap and lost the set 25-20.
Whitman got things started in the third set with strong serves to score five straight points. They would add more points on two Nemeti kills, and then Gray and Senior Ariel Downer (Spring Lake, NC) combined for a big block at the net forcing Warren Wilson to call a time out. Freshman Miguel Harris (Virginia Beach, VA) stepped up to the service line for points and that allowed Nemeti to do what he had done all day, score on a kill. However, the Owls began to make a run to pull within two points and then eventually tied the score at 16-16. Downer, who switched to a more offensive role this set, delivered some big kills to regain the advantage, but Regent would fall by a final score of 3-0 (25-23).
Nemeti finished with 13 kills, while Whitman dished out 21 assists and had 11 digs. In addition, Downer led the team with 13 digs.
The Royals will have a week break but will be back in action on February 21st when they are on the road to face Carolina University. First serve is scheduled for 3:00pm.
