BROOKLINE, Mass. – The Endicott men's volleyball team traveled to Newbury on Saturday afternoon for a New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) matchup. Followed by a match-high 15 kills from junior John Osborne (Freehold, N.J.) the Gulls soared to a 4-1 final to claim their ninth consecutive conference triumph. With the victory Endicott improves to 10-10 (9-0 NECC) while the Nighthawks fall to 6-9 (4-3 NECC).
The Gulls will take the court next after a much deserved break, on Wednesday, March 25th as they host NECC foe Lesley for a 7:00 p.m. start. Endicott has already faced Lesley once this season where they lifted to an impressive 3-0 win. Newbury will play next on Tuesday, March 17th as they travel to conference opponent Daniel Webster for a 7:00 p.m. start.
Overall the Blue and Green controlled the first two sets claiming a 25-16 score in the first and 25-19 final in the second. The Nighthawks made a comeback on their home court in the third set with a tight 26-24 victory, but the Gulls finished strong in the fourth taking the 25-16 triumph.
Led by the 15 kills from Osborne, which converted to a .243 hitting percentage, seven other Gulls made kills on the afternoon as junior Daniel Toth (Vernon, N.J.) followed with nine for a team high .467 hitting percentage. Also posting strong numbers was junior Dan Seaver (Milford, Mass.) who recorded eight kills, sophomore Ryan Sutherland (Fairport, N.Y.) with seven and junior Alex Wasik (Milford, Mass.) with six.
Junior Cameron Little (San Diego, Calif.) boasted an impressive match-high 42 assists which helped lead to the 52 total kills by the Blue and Green. For Newbury freshman Michael Holihan (Northampton, Pa.) kept his squad close behind with his 34 assists which helped convert to the team-high 11 kills from freshman Wade Robidioux (Agawam, Mass.) followed by 10 from senior Danny Tiner (Salem, N.H.).
Despite the Nighthawks offensive efforts, the Gulls were stealthy on the block as Wasik and Sutherland both led with a match-high six block assists followed by five from Toth and four from Little. Their strong defensive game helped hold Newbury to just 42 kills on 142 attempts.
Newbury worked to stay in the match as junior Stephen Watson (Monterey, Calif.) boasted a match-high 10 digs but with the strong efforts of Osborne, Little, freshman Troy Riorden (Fairport, N.Y.) and junior Chandler Tayek (Rolling Hills Estates, Calif.) the Gulls recorded 36 total digs to the Nighthawks 34.
