BROOKLINE, Mass. - The Endicott men's volleyball ran their early season win-streak to five matches after defeating their New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) opponent Newbury 3-0 (25-21, 25-8, 25-21) on Wednesday evening on the road. The Gulls improved to 6-2 (2-0 NECC) on the season thanks in part to a match-high 16 kills from sophomore outside hitter John Osborne (Freehold, N.J.) and a career-high 16 digs from junior defensive specialist Kristian Catalan (Sudbury, Mass.).
Catalan crushed his previous-best of 11 digs from last season's five-set loss to Kean in the Endicott Invitational on March 9th with his 16-dig effort against the Nighthawks on Wednesday. Endicott, with 43 team digs in the match, held Newbury to just a .051 team hitting percentage as the Nighthawks managed just 29 kills on 117 attempts with 23 errors.
Osborne came four kills shy of tying his career-high but had his most efficient offensive output since the season opener when he hit .400 against Daniel Webster. Osborne hit .293 on 41 swings against Newbury while committing just four errors. He also added four digs in the three-set win.
Helping out Osborne on the attack were seniors Travis Netherton (Waukegan, Ill.), Josh Anderson (La Canada, Calif.), and Brennan Lowe (Malibu, Calif.) who combined to for 13 kills with Netherton leading the trio with six kills to go along with seven digs and three total blocks. Anderson had four kills and a team-high four blocks including a solo stuff. Sophomore middle Daniel Toth (Vernon, N.J.) came on in the third set to tally three kills on five swings without an error.
Setting up the Endicott attack was senior Carter Roche (Clifton Park, N.Y.) who in two sets amassed 20 assists, three service aces, and three digs. Sophomores Tyler Bacon (Cypress, Calif.) and Cameron Little (San Diego, Calif.) each carried setting duties for a set with eight and seven assists, respectively.
Newbury was led by a team-high nine kills from junior outside hitter Chi Yin Li (Hong Kong, China) while freshman middle Billy Stephen (Windermere, Fla.) added five kills and five digs in the loss. Setter Patrick Robindoux (Barrington, R.I.) had 23 assists and junior outside hitter Jake Powell (Salinas, Calif.) led his squad with 11 digs.
Endicott will host a tri-match with winless NECC opponent Lesley and Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) foe Wentworth on Saturday, February 22nd. Wentworth recently took the #10-ranked MIT Engineers to five sets and currently own an 8-2 overall record. Endicott's matches will be at 12:00 pm and 4:00 pm with Lesley and Wentworth playing at 2:00 pm. All matches will be available via live statistics and live video on www.ECGulls.com.
