CHICOPEE, Mass. – The Endicott men's volleyball team opened up New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) play on Saturday afternoon with a 3-0 victory over Elms College at Picknelly Arena.
Endicott senior Alex Wasik (Milford, Mass.) sent home a team-high seven kills (.455 hitting percentage), while Troy Riorden (Fairport, N.Y.) and Daniel Toth (Glenwood, N.J.) both registered six kills apiece to highlight the Gulls offensively. Cameron Little (San Diego, Calif.) also ran the attack with 18 assists.
Defensively, John Osborne (Freehold, N.J.) recorded a team-high five digs to go along with a .900 serve-receive percentage (9-of-10) and freshman Ryan Healy (Fair Lawn, N.J.) contributed four digs and produced a .950 serve-receive percentage (19-of-20). As a team, the Gulls registered one block solo and 10 block assists, as Toth led the way for the visitors with one block solo and three block assists.
Elms sophomore Gabriel Reis Levy (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) powered the Blazers' offense with a match-high 11 kills (.240 hitting percentage), while Dervin Dimanche (Queens, N.Y.), Daniel Bondarovsky (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil), Angel Castro (Carolina, Puerto Rico), and Austin DeCosmo (Southwick, Mass.) all chipped in with six kills, respectively.
John Dunphy (Farmington, Conn.) facilitated the offense with a match-high 31 assists and Castro led all student-athletes with 11 digs to round out the list of highlights for Elms.
Set one featured 11 tie scores and four lead changes before the Gulls finally broke open a 22-22 tie on a kill from Riorden and a service ace by freshman Jeremy Doski (Sandy Hook, Conn.). Castro immediately followed with his third kill of the set for Elms, but an attacking error by the Blazers on the next point locked up the set one victory for Endicott.
The Gulls made quick work of Elms in the second set behind a set-high 15 kills and a .583 hitting percentage and orchestrated a 14-7 run to begin set three to breeze to its first NECC league victory of the season.
BEYOND THE BOX
- Endicott is now 26-3 in the all-time series against Elms.
- The Gulls have won the last eight matches versus the Blazers.
- Toth and Wasik both hit a team-high .455 (min. 10 attempts) on the afternoon.
- Riorden posted a perfect serve-receive percentage on 10 attempts.
FOR THE FOES
- Reis Levy has notched 10 or more kills in seven matches this season.
- Dunphy has registered 30 or more assists in seven matches in 2016.
WHAT'S NEXT
Endicott (6-6, 1-0 NECC) will travel to Regis next Wednesday at 7 p.m. before it hosts Daniel Webster on Thursday, February 18 at 7 p.m. inside MacDonald Gymnasium. Elms (8-4, 1-1 NECC) hosts Sage on Wednesday, February 17 at 8 p.m. For the latest on Endicott Athletics, follow the Gulls on social media on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube.
