BEVERLY, Mass. – In a tri-match with NECC opponent Lesley and regional rival Wentworth, the Endicott men's volleyball team spilt their two matches by defeating Lesley in straight sets (25-16, 25-10, 25-6) and dropping a five-set thriller to Wentworth (20-25, 25-23, 25-20, 23-25, 15-11). The Gulls saw their six-match winning streak end with the loss to the Leopards but Endicott maintains a strong 7-3 overall record with an undefeated 3-0 mark in NECC matches.
Endicott will be off until Saturday, March 1st when they host NECC foe Elms for a 1:00 pm tilt. The Blue and Green are 21-3 all-time against Elms dating back to the 2003 season and hold a recent three match victory streak over the Blazers that includes the 2013 NECC Championship match.
Match One: Endicott 3, Lesley 0 (25-16, 25-10, 25-6)
Endicott freshman outside Tyler Willgoos (Newington, Conn.), playing in his first action of the 2014 season, turned in a remarkable effort with a match-high kills on 25 attempts with a .320 hitting percentage to go along with seven digs, four service aces, and a block assist. Willgoos was complemented by nine kills and .500 hitting percentage from sophomore middle Daniel Toth (Vernon, N.J.) who also blocked two Lesley attempts at the net.
Sophomore outside Chandler Tayek (Rolling Hills Estates, Calif.) added four kills but factored in mostly defensively with a match-high 12 digs and quality serving with six aces. Defensive special Kristian Catalan (Sudbury, Mass.) and setter Tyler Bacon (Cypress, Calif.) each added five digs in the win.
Bacon and fellow sophomore Cameron Little (San Diego, Calif.) split the setting duties with a combined 30 assists with Bacon leading the way with 18. Little also had three service aces.
For the Lynx (0-7, 0-3 NECC), freshman outside Tyler Burns (Newtown, Pa.) and sophomore CJ Sutton (Billerica, Mass.) each had a team-high four kills. Senior defensive specialist Makenzie Lukas (Reno, Nev.) led the team with nine digs while both Sutton and Burns each had six digs apiece. Freshman setter Mitchel Ulacco (Winchester, Mass.) had eight assists in the loss.
Match Two: Wentworth 3, Lesley 0 (25-12, 25-5, 25-9)
Wentworth (10-2) sophomore Bill Shimkus (Sudbury, Mass.) set a program record with 15 service aces in the three set win and dished out 21 assists, including nine to senior middle Brian Mann (East Freetown, Mass.) who put up a perfect 1.000 hitting percentage on all nine attempts. Shimkus added six digs and two block assists to his record setting day.
Leopards junior Rami Akouri (Fall River, Mass.) finished second on the team with four kills and five other Wentworth attackers added three kills each in the win over Lesley.
Defensively for Wentworth, Akouri had a team-high seven digs while freshman middle Mike Hansen (Rochester, N.Y.) had three block assists to lead his squad.
Lukas had a match-high eight digs for Lesley while Burns and senior outside Aqib Shah (Watertown, Mass.) combined for a block. The Lesley offense was unable to get going as the team finished with a negative hitting percentage.
Match Three: Wentworth 3, Endicott 2 (20-25, 25-23, 25-20, 23-25, 15-11)
Endicott senior right side Josh Anderson (La Canada, Calif.) and sophomore outside John Osborne (Freehold, N.J.) each had a team-high 16 kills and the Gulls totaled 21 block assists, but the Gulls were unable to overcome a standout offensive match from Leopards senior outside Ross Burdett (Needham, Mass.) who had a match-high 20 kills with a .298 hitting percentage and 52 assists and 13 digs from freshman setter Collin Ritter (Feeding Hills, Mass.).
Wentworth outsides Jake Reed (Arvada, Colo.) and Sam Pisker (Mullica Hill, N.J.) added 15 and 11 kills, respectively, while the Leopards defensive presence at the net produced four solo blocks by four different players and 16 block assists. Five of those assisted blocks came off the hands of Wentworth middle Sean Donahue (Lincoln, R.I.).
In the middle for Endicott, senior captains Travis Netherton (Waukegan, Ill.) and Mike Coniglione (Glenville, N.Y.) combined to hit .363 with nine and eight kills, respectively, while totaling 10 block assists between the two of them. Fellow captain and setter Carter Roche (Clifton Park, N.Y.) played exceptional with 48 assists and five digs with two block assists.
On defense, senior libero Aaron Jessee (Okinawa, Japan) set a career-high with 20 digs with a perfect serve-receive on 33 attempts. As a team, Endicott had just one reception error for a .989 reception percentage.
Wentworth sported the same exact reception percentage with three players turning in 1.000 individual efforts with at least 25 attempts.
