FRANKLIN, Mass. – March 23, 2024 - The Dean College men's volleyball team hosted a Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) tri-match on Saturday inside Pieri Gymnasium.

The Bulldogs began the day with a 3-0 loss to the top-ranked Leopards from Wentworth by scores of 25-11, 25-15 and 25-9. The Leopards then earned a 25-20, 25-15, 25-20 win over Elms in today's middle match. Elms then edged the Bulldogs in a tightly contested match by scores of 25-14, 20-25, 25-20 and 25-21.

Dean (3-12, 0-8 GNAC) hits the road on Tuesday for a 7 p.m. match at Emmanuel. Wentworth (24-0, 10-0 GNAC) will play at Lasell on Tuesday. Elms (6-17, 1-7 GNAC) travels to Regis on Tuesday.

#1 WENTWORTH 3, DEAN 0 – 25-11, 25-15, 25-9

Sophomore Arthur Felicio (Governador Valadares, Brazil) led Dean with four kills against the Leopards. First-year Luis Castillo (Houston, Texas) had a team best nine digs.

Mason Andrade hit .765 with 14 kills to pace Wentworth. Antonio Marino picked up a match-high of 10 digs. The Leopards hit .535 as a team.  
 
ELMS 3, DEAN 1 – 25-14, 20-25, 25-20, 25-21

Senior Aaron Fonseca (West Warwick, R.I.) tallied eight kills and nine digs for the Bulldogs. Felicio added six kills. Sophomore Hunter Armitage (Westerly, R.I.) finished with 18 assists, four kills and a couple of blocks. Senior Steve Mazza (Westchester, N.Y.) had a match-high five blocks, while senior Maccus Dinsmore (Northborough, Mass.) contributed four kills and four blocks. Castillo led all player with 21 digs.

Elms was led by a 19-kill effort on .552 hitting from first-year Nick Uschmann (Agawam, Mass.). Pedro De Jesus (East Hartford, Conn.) posted 15 kills and 10 digs. Collin Liedke (Newington, Conn.) registered 41 assists, six kills and 19 digs.

The Blazers jumped out to a 6-1 run in the first set and never looked back en route to the 25-14 win. Elms had 15 kills and was led by Uschmann who had five.

Dean trailed 11-7 and then 20-18 before storming back with seven-straight points to take the second, 25-20. Felicio had three kills for the Bulldogs, while the Dean defense held Elms to a negative hitting percentage in the set.

Elms took a 7-2 lead to begin the third set. The Blazers then led 17-12, but the Bulldogs answered with a 6-0 spurt, capped by a Fonseca kill, to take an 18-17 lead. The score was later tied at 20-20 before Elms used a 5-0 run to take a 2-1 lead in the match. Dean hit .300 with 12 kills in the set. Dinsmore, Fonseca and Armitage each had three kills.

A kill by Liedke put Elms on top by a 10-4 margin in the fourth set. The Bulldogs were able to pull within three at 22-19, but ran out of room as Elms scored three of the next five points to secure the victory.