BOSTON, Mass. (March 31, 2026) – Elms College recorded 11 blocks and hit just under .300 as a team on its way to a 3-0 (25-21, 25-14, 25-18) victory over Emerson College in a Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) men's volleyball match at Bobbi Brown and Steven Plofker Gymnasium tonight.

First year John Centeno Pagan led the Elms attack with ten kills and a .300 hitting percentage, two service aces and five digs, while Junior Nick Uschmann added seven kills with a .333 hitting percentage, seven digs and four blocks. Senior Rafa Artero and junior John Bellafronte led the Blazers 11 block effort with five each.

Sophomore Hunter Ladouceur and first year David Dzhenzherukha each dished out 12 assists for Elms, with Dzhenzherukha adding three kills and two block assists.

Junior Riley Goldman led the Emerson attack with ten kills while hitting .318 and sophomore Mario Cielo-Salinas also delivered ten kills with five digs, an ace and block assist. First year Ryan Chen dished out 27 assists for the Lions with five digs and a block assist.

Elms emerged from an opening set that saw four ties and a lead change behind 12 kills and a .346 team hitting percentage with Centeno Pagan and Uschmann combining for nine kills and just two hitting errors in the frame. The Lions held an early 7-4 lead after back-to-back Goldman kills and still led by three (10-7) after a kill from first year Cade Ott.

Elms slowly chipped away, knotting the score at 13-13 after a kill from first year Joe Culhane. The teams traded points until the Blazers took control with a 10-4 run for a seven-point advantage (24-17) after an Emerson attack error before closing out the set with an Uschmann kill that answered back-to-back kills by Cielo-Salinas and an Ott ace.

The two teams would be tied just once with one lead change the rest of the way as Elms took advantage of ten Emerson attack errors and five service errors to win set two. The Blazers opened a 19-9 lead in the frame and did not look back, using a 7-2 run to help close out the set. Elms hit .323 with four different hitters recording multiple kills and did not trail in closing out the match after three sets. Bellafronte closed out the third set with a service ace.

Emerson (4-13, 1-5 GNAC) closes out its regular season schedule on Saturday when it hosts Regis College for a GNAC matchup on Senior Day on Boylston Street at 11 a.m. The winner of the match will earn the No. 6 seed in next week's GNAC Tournament. Elms (15-12, 3-3 GNAC) hosts Emmanuel College for its regular season finale on Saturday at noon.

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