FRANKLIN, Mass. - January 26, 2024 - The Dean College men's volleyball team dropped its 2024 season opening match to Purchase College 3-0 by scores of 27-25, 25-20 and 25-16.

Dean (0-1) has a quick turnaround with a road tri-match at Regis tomorrow morning. The Bulldogs will play the Pride for a Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) opener before playing Eastern Nazarene. Purchase (1-1), led by 2018 Dean College alumnus Dean Bennett, will play at John Jay on Monday night. 

The Bulldogs were led by sophomore Jerney Price (San Antonio, Texas). He posted seven kills in his Dean debut. Sophomore Arthur Felicio (Governador Valadares, Brazil) contributed six kills, 10 digs and a couple of blocks. Sophomore Hunter Armitage (Westerly, R.I.) finished with 19 assists. First-year Luis Castillo (Houston, Texas) picked up 10 digs in his first match.

Freshman Udel Phillips (Far Rockaway, N.Y.) posted 10 kills on .714 hitting to lead the Purchase attack. Junior Tyler Ryan (Port Reading, N.J.) also finished with 10 kills. Freshman Nate Matthie (Bronx, N.Y.) hit .778 with eight kills and recorded a match-high 17 digs.

The first set was back-and-forth and featured 16 ties. A Felicio kill put the Bulldogs on top 24-23 before Matthie answered for the Panthers. Dean then took a 25-24 lead on a service error, but Purchase rattled off the next three points to take the first set 27-25. Price had four kills on .600 hitting to lead Dean.

The visitors used a 12-2 run to start the second set. Dean was able to pull within 15-11 and force a Panthers timeout, but Purchase went on a 4-2 spurt to create separation. A Phillips kill gave the Panthers a 25-20 second set win and a 2-0 lead in the match.

Purchase opened the third with a 5-1 score and never looked back. The team came away with 18 kills on .400 hitting en route to the 25-16 victory. Phillips added six kills in the set to give him 10 for the match.