By: MIT Athletics

THE BASICS:

- Score: MIT 3, Regis College 0 (25-9, 25-15, 25-12)

- Records: MIT (1-0); Regis College (0-1)

- Location: Cambridge, Mass. (Rockwell Cage)

- The Lead: Led by ten kills by sophomore Troy Oliveira (San Diego, Calif.), the MIT men's volleyball team opened its 2020 campaign with a three-set sweep of Regis College on Friday evening. The Engineers defeated the Pride by set scores of 25-9, 25-15, 25-12 and hit .328 as a group tonight.

HOW IT HAPPENED:

- MIT took the first five points of set number one and jumped out to a 10-3 lead before Regis was forced to call a timeout. In that match-opening run, MIT received kills from Oliveira, first-year Jack Yurkanin (New Lenox, Ill.) and junior Cole Linnus (Wellington, Fla.). Late in the set, MIT was up 18-8 and used three kills by Oliveira, an ace by senior Steve Timberman (Merrick, N.Y.) and four errors by Regis to win the first set 25-9. 

- The second the score stood even at 13-13 midway through the second, but MIT went on a 12-2 and won the middle set by a 25-15 margin. The set-ending run was sparked by three kills from both Oliveira and sophomore Bradley Albright (Burnt Hills, N.Y.) as MIT hit .308 in set number two.

- The Engineers went ahead 8-0 in the third and final set and never looked back as MIT claimed set 25-12 and the match 3-0. After a long rally that was capped by a huge block from both first-year Dylan Ryan (Oviedo, Fla.) and sophomore Brett Allen (San Jose, Calif.), MIT went on an 11-5 run to close the contest. Back-to-back service aces by Allen and a kill by first-year Nicholas Gustafson (San Diego, Calif.) highlighted the set-ending run.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS:

- Oliveira produced a match-high ten kills, while Yurkanin, Linnus and Gustafson all contributed four kills for the Engineers. Junior Nathan Wang (Saratoga, Calif.) and first-year Seth Fine (Allentown, Pa.) combined for 20 of MIT's 26 assists, while senior Thomas Nelson (San Ramon, Calif.) ended the night with four digs.

- The Engineers held the advantage in assists (26-15), blocks (3-0), kills (32-16) and hitting percentage (.328- -.094) in tonight's match against Regis.

- MT is now 12-0 all-time in the series with Regis College which dates back to 2010. All but three of those matchups have been decided in straight sets.

- The Engineers are receiving votes in the AVCA Division III National Poll.

UP NEXT:

- MIT will travel to Johnson & Wales University next Friday, January 24. The Engineers are scheduled to play Baruch College at 6:00 pm and No. 3 Stevens at 8:00 pm inside the Wildcat Center in Providence, R.I.