FRANKLIN, Mass. – February 24, 2024 - The Dean College men's volleyball team won a pair of matches over Vermont State University Johnson (VTSU) by 3-1 scores on Saturday inside Pieri Gymnasium.
Dean (3-6) remains home on Tuesday for a 6 p.m. conference match against Regis. Johnson (2-8) hosts SUNY Poly next Saturday.
Match 1 – Dean 3, VTSU Johnson 1 – 27-25, 24-26, 25-20, 25-21
The Bulldogs received 12 kills apiece from junior
Nunu Coward-Jackson (Fresno, Calif.) and sophomore
Arthur Felicio (Governador Valadares, Brazil). Coward-Jackson hit .417 and each player had three aces.
Sophomore
Hunter Armitage (Westerly, R.I.) posted 34 assists and seven digs, while first-year
Luis Castillo (Houston, Texas) picked up a match-high 19 digs.
Luke Walters had a match best 13 kills on .407 hitting to pace the Badgers. He added 16 assists and 10 digs for the triple-double.
Dean came away with a 27-25 first-set victory. The set featured 11 ties. The Bulldogs had 14 kills on .206 hitting, while the Badgers tallied 13 kills on .407 hitting.
The second set was a mirror image of the first with Johnson tying the match with a 26-24 victory. The set had 12 ties and four lead changes.
Dean took a 2-1 lead with a 25-20 third-set victory. Four Bulldogs had at least one ace in the frame.
The home team closed out the match with a 25-21 win in the fourth. Dean registered 13 kills and was led by Coward-Jackson who had four kills.
Match 2 – Dean 3, VTSU Johnson 1 – 25-22, 25-18, 24-26, 25-22
Felicio led all players with 13 kills in the second match. Armitage tallied 23 assists and Castillo recorded 15 digs. Coward-Jackson had seven aces, while senior
Aaron Fonseca (West Warwick, R.I.) finished with six aces and eight digs.
Patrick Holmes hit .333 with 12 kills to lead Johnson. Walters added 10 kills on .450 hitting along with a match best 21 digs.
The first set had 10 ties and four lead changes. The Bulldogs benefited from nine attacking errors and six services errors by Johnson to win 25-22.
In the second, Dean's offense started clicking and posted 12 kills with six coming from Felicio en route to the 25-18 triumph.
The Bulldogs were close to ending the match in the third with a 23-18 lead, but Johnson stormed all the way back to stay alive with a 26-24 victory. The Badgers hit .357 and finished with 14 kills, including seven from Holmes.
Dean responded strongly to begin the fourth. The Bulldogs held a 22-18 lead before Johnson began a run to make things interesting. The home team was able to stave off a comeback and deliver a 25-22 set win to clinch the match. The Bulldogs had seven aces in the set with five coming from Coward-Jackson.
