BEVERLY, Mass. – The first-seeded Endicott men's volleyball team captured its fifth straight New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) title with a 3-0 victory over third-seeded Elms by scores of 25-18, 25-21, and 28-26 on Saturday afternoon at MacDonald Gymnasium.
Daniel Toth (Glenwood, N.J.) earned NECC Tournament Most Valuable Player honors for Endicott as the senior middle compiled 18 kills (3.00 k/s), a .467 hitting percentage, one service ace, 10 blocks (one solo, nine assisted), and five digs over two matches played in the tournament. Against Elms in the championship match, Toth had eight kills, a .312 hitting percentage, one service ace, four digs, and five block assists.
Endicott freshman Bryn Lipton (Rockford, Ill.) led all student-athletes with a match-high 16 kills (.278) to go along with six digs, while classmate Donovan Dey (Fairport, N.Y.) registered eight putaways (.333), four digs, and a match-high six block assists.
Meanwhile, Chad Riorden (Fairport, N.Y.) and Adam Dake (Victor, N.Y.) split duties running the Gulls' offense, as Riorden tallied 21 assists and one dig, while Dake posted 20 assists and six digs. Defensively, Ryan Healy (Fair Lawn, N.J.) tied for the match-high in digs with 12. Healy also went 15-for-15 on serve-receive.
BEYOND THE BOX SCORE
- Today's match featured 24 tie scores and 10 elad changes.
- Trailing 23-20 in the third set, Elms put together a 4-0 run to take a 24-23 advantage, but Endicott answered back with a 5-1 run of its own to lock up its fifth straight title.
- Endicott's Seth Braquet (Destrehan, La.) put together a solid performance beyond the stat sheet going 22-for-23 on serve receive in addition to his four kills, five digs, and two block assists. Eleven of his 23 reception attempts also led to kills (.478).
- As a team, Endicott's serve receive had 30 of its 56 attempts result in kills (.536).
- Reis Levy was even more impressive on serve receive as the junior outside went a perfect 26-for-26 for Elms. Eight of his 26 receptions also correlated in kills (.308).
- Gulls' senior middle Ryan Sutherland (Fairport, N.Y.) connected for six kills on just eight attempts for a match-high .750 hitting percentage (minimum five attempts).
2017 NECC All-Tournament Team
MVP – Daniel Toth (Endicott)
Ryan Healy (Endicott)
Bryn Lipton (Endicott)
Daniel Bondarovsky (Elms)
Gabriel Reis Levy (Elms)
Sean Bisnett (Regis)
Oscar Chavez (Newbury)
WHAT'S NEXT
Endicott (21-10) has earned the NECC's automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament for the fifth straight season. The Gulls will receive word of their opponent on the upcoming NCAA Tournament Selection Show this Monday, April 17 at 10 AM (EST) on www.ncaa.com. Elms sees its 2017 season come to a close at 18-10 overall. For the latest on Endicott Athletics, follow the Gulls on social media on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube.