INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. – The Selection Show for the NCAA Division III Men's Volleyball Tournament revealed that Endicott, automatic qualifiers by right of winning the NECC Championship, will host at-large bid winners MIT on Saturday, April 19th at MacDonald Gymnasium in a First Round match up. Game time has been set for 4:00 PM.
Endicott (18-12) will be hosting their second straight First Round appearance in the NCAA Tournament after claiming back-to-back NECC titles with Saturday's 3-1 (22-25, 25-19, 25-23, 25-18) victory over Daniel Webster. MIT (24-6) earned an at-large bid into the NCAA Tournament after earning a #3 seed in the UVC Tournament and losing in the quarterfinals 3-1 to Stevens. The winner of Saturday's First Round matchup between Endicott and MIT will take on the bracket's #1 seed and defending national champions Springfield on Friday, April 25th in quarterfinal action.
Endicott and MIT have faced off 25 times since their first ever meeting in 2002 with the Engineers owning a 15-10 record over the Gulls. Since 2011, the first season for this year's senior class, Endicott has gone 1-4 with their only win coming on March 10th, 2011 at the Endicott Invitational when MIT was ranked #12 in the country. The Gulls won in five sets thanks in part to 10 kills (.417) and nine blocks from then freshman Travis Netherton (Waukegan, Ill.) and 19 assists and eight digs from then freshman Carter Roche (Clifton Park, N.Y.).
For his career, Netherton has 25 kills and a .233 hitting percentage with 15 total blocks against the Engineers. Roche has 60 assists, a 4.62 assists per set average, and 23 total digs. Senior right side Josh Anderson (La Canada, Calif.) has played well in three career matchups with MIT, averaging 1.82 kills per set with 20 kills (.319) and a 1.09 blocks per set average.
Information regarding Saturday's match time will be released at a later time. The game will be available via live statistics and live video for any spectators that cannot attend the match.
