UNION, N.J. – On day two of the Kean Winter Classic, the Endicott men's volleyball team took on a pair of AVCA top-10 opponents falling in both matches to #10 Elmira and #6 Kean. The Gulls (1-2) visit Wentworth on Wednesday, January 21st for a 7:00 pm start.
#10 Elmira 3, Endicott 0 (25-23, 25-18, 25-12)
Endicott junior outside hitter John Osborne (Freehold, N.J.) tied Elmira outside Erik Griffin (Victor, N.Y.) for a match-high 11 kills and had his hand in two of the team's seven blocks, but the Gulls could not overcome Elmira's .304 hitting percentage in a straight set loss to the Soaring Eagles.
Elmira setter Carlos Faccio (Guaynabo, Puerto Rico) averaged 10 assists per set and distributed the ball effectively to Griffin as well as fellow outside hitter Ryan Lamparter (Dover, Pa.) who added seven kills. Faccio also had seven digs and three block assists in the Elmira win.
Gulls junior setter Cameron Little (San Diego, Calif.) totaled 20 assists and factored in defensively with two block assists. Endicott junior middle Daniel Toth (Vernon, N.J.) and Elmira middle Dylan Kuhn (Fairport, N.Y.) each had a match-high four assisted blocks .
Osborne led Endicott with five digs with senior Kristian Catalan (Sudbury, Mass.) and junior Chandler Tayek (Rolling Hills Estates, Calif.) adding three digs apiece.
#6 Kean 3, Endicott 1 (26-24, 21-25, 20-25, 23-25)
Endicott captured a 26-24 first set win over the AVCA's sixth-ranked Kean Cougars, breaking a 21-21 tie thanks to three-straight aces from freshman Troy Riorden (Fairport, N.Y.) followed by a kill and an ace by Osborne after a Kean rally tied the score at 24. The Cougars responded by taking the next three sets to remain unbeaten at 3-0 on the year.
In the fourth and final set, Endicott erased a 19-13 deficit to tie the set at 21, 22, and 23 before Kean ended the match with a 25-23 win.
Osborne once again paced Endicott's offensive attack with 14 kills to go along with eight digs and two block assists. Gulls junior outside Dan Seaver (Milford, Mass.) hit .375 in the match thanks to 13 kills on 24 attempts with just four errors while junior middle Alex Wasik (Milford, Mass.) hit .558 with 10 kills and zero errors. Wasik had his hands in four blocks.
Riorden stepped into a setting role and shined with 41 assists while serving up four aces, getting three digs, and recorded three assisted blocks.
Tayek and Catalan once again were integral parts of Endicott's defensive presence with 15 and 11 digs, respectively. For Tayek, his 15 digs were a career-high.
Kean's Ed Jedziniak (Hillsborough, N.J.) led all players with 24 kills on 43 attempts for a .488 hitting percentage. Jedziniak also had seven digs and three block assists.
