BENNINGTON, Vt. – The Endicott men's volleyball team secured their position atop the NECC standings by sweeping their regular season series with Southern Vermont with a 3-0 (25-17, 25-20, 26-24) victory over the Mountaineers Thursday night. Gulls junior outside hitter John Osborne (Freehold, N.J.) amassed a match-high 17 kills on a .441 hitting percentage to lead an Endicott attack that hit .255 as a team.
Endicott (12-10, 11-0 NECC) will go into their Senior Day match on Saturday, March 28th against Daniel Webster with a firm grasp on the top seed in the upcoming conference tournament. Southern Vermont (13-6, 7-2 NECC) will face NECC opponent Lesley on Saturday.
Osborne's 17 kills were complemented by another 12 from fellow junior outside Dan Seaver (Milford, Mass.) as no other Endicott attacker recorded more than three kills. Junior setter Cameron Little (San Diego, Calif.) distributed 32 assists in the win and factored in defensively with six digs and a block assist.
Endicott's defensive game plan helped to limit Southern Vermont to just a .144 hitting percentage despite 13 kills from senior outside Keven Walley (Pico Rivera, Calif.) and another eight from senior Scott Fitzgerald (Queensbury, N.Y.). Gulls freshman libero Troy Riorden (Fairport, N.Y.), who had 19 digs in his first meeting with the Mountaineers, totaled 14 digs in just three sets against Southern Vermont on Thursday. Osborne added 10 digs.
At the net, middles Alex Wasik (Milford, Mass.) and Ryan Sutherland (Fairport, N.Y.) countered the Mountaineer attack with five block assists apiece with junior Daniel Toth (Vernon, N.J.) recording a solo and assisted block in the win.
Endicott also took advantage of strong serving on their end with three aces and only five service errors while Southern Vermont totaled 12 service miscues.
