BEVERLY, Mass. – The Endicott men's volleyball team swept through conference opponents Lesley and Southern Vermont on Saturday afternoon inside MacDonald Gymnasium, winning both matches in straight sets, and solidified their position as the top seed in the NECC Tournament which begins on Tuesday, April 11.
MATCH ONE: ENDICOTT 3, LESLEY 0 (25-4, 25-5, 25-6)
Endicott hit .548 as a team, surrendered only three Lesley kills, and converted 20 service aces en route to a 3-0 sweep of the Lynx in match one of today's conference tri-match.
Five players tied for a match-high three kills for Endicott including senior outside Tyler Willgoos (Newington, Conn.), who also served up two aces, and senior middle Ryan Sutherland (Fairport, N.Y.), who added an assist and a dig. Sophomore Ryan Healy (Fair Lawn, N.J.) and freshmen Bryn Lipton (Rockford, Ill.) and Tim Fieseler (Bridgewater, N.J.) also contributed with three kills apiece.
Sophomore setters Devin Racey (Voorheesville, N.Y.) and Adam Dake (Victor, N.Y.) each had seven assists to fuel a Gulls offense that registered 26 assists on their 28 kills.
Defensively, junior defensive specialist Amar Patel (Keene, N.H.) led all players with five digs while Dake and sophomore middle Seth Braquet (Destrehan, La.) each had a block assist.
BEYOND THE BOX SCORE
- Endicott improved to 16-0 all-time against Lesley dating back to the 2006 season. The Gulls defeated the Lynx 3-0 back on February 15 in their previous 2017 scheduled meeting.
- Endicott's .548 hitting percentage is the third-best in program history. The program record is .644 from a 2001 performance against Newbury that saw 34 kills recorded on 45 swings with only five errors.
- The Gulls played 16 players in today's match. All but three recorded a kill.
FOR THE FOES
- Lesley sophomore middle John Gersbeck (Westerly, R.I.) recorded a team-high two kills with a block assist.
- Senior middle Jason Hulteen (Galena, Ohio) had a pair of block assists in the loss. Lesley as a team out-blocked Endicott 2.0-to-1.0 for the match. Hulteen also had a team-high four digs.
MATCH TWO: ENDICOTT 3, SOUTHERN VERMONT 0 (25-10, 25-9, 25-16)
The Gulls carried their momentum from earlier in the day into a 3-0 victory over Southern Vermont as Endicott hit .500 as a team thanks in part to a match-high seven kills from Lipton, six kills on seven attempts with no errors from senior middle Daniel Toth (Glenwood, N.J.), and another five kills from Willgoos.
Endicott's offense was clicking once again as all three setters eclipsed double-digit assists with Racey and freshman Chad Riorden (Fairport, N.Y.) distributing 13 and Dake adding 10 assists. As a team, Endicott registered an assist on 39 of their 41 kills.
Junior outside Troy Riorden (Fairport, N.Y.) was a beneficiary of his brother Chad's passing as Troy recorded four kills in the first set. In the second set, Dake found five different attackers for points including sophomore opposite Jeremy Doski (Sandy Hook, Conn.) for two kills. With Racey setting in the third, Gulls sophomore outside Matt Bozek (Exeter, N.H.) struck a career-best four kills on seven swings with only one error.
Defensively, Healy and Lipton tied for a team-best six digs while Toth, Sutherland, and Dake all hand their hands in a pair of block assists each.
BEYOND THE BOX SCORE
- With today's win over Southern Vermont, Endicott swept the season series with the Mountaineers and improved to 13-1 all-time.
- After today's offensive output, Endicott improved their team statistics to .404 hitting percentage against conference opponents.
- Patel finished off the match in the third set with his first kill of the 2017 season.
- Gulls sophomore Jacob Newman (Chester, N.H.) was one of three Endicott players to recorded two service aces. Willgoos and Doski were the other two.
- Endicott totaled 33 service aces in the two matches against Lesley and Southern Vermont.
FOR THE FOES
- Southern Vermont freshman middle Te Hayward (Baltimore, Md.) matched Lipton for a match-high seven kills and did so on 14 swings and a .357 hitting percentage.
- Mountaineers setter Bryan Bernal (Riverside, Calif.) dished out 12 assists while adding eight digs and three service aces.Yonas Million (Rockville, Md.) totaled four digs and three kills in the loss.
WHAT'S NEXT
Endicott (18-9, 11-0 NECC) is off until Friday, April 7 when they take on NYU, who is currently ranked No. 7 on the AVCA Division III national poll. That match starts at 5:00 p.m. inside MacDonald Gymnasium. Lesley (1-18, 0-8 NECC) returns to action on Monday evening at 8:00 p.m. when they take on NECC rival Regis. Southern Vermont (5-20, 2-8 NECC) also takes on Regis but on Wednesday, April 5 for a 7:00 p.m. home match.
For the latest on Endicott Athletics, follow the Gulls on social media on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube.