BEVERLY, Mass. — In a critical regular season, conference showdown with New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) rival Elms, the Endicott men's volleyball captured a 3-0 (25-15, 25-22, 25-23) victory to remain undefeated in their league schedule.
Sophomore outside hitter Bryn Lipton (Rockford, Ill.) totaled 14 kills on 27 attempts (.296) and was a strong defensive presence with 12 digs for the Gulls. Fellow second-year hitter Donovan Dey (Fairport, N.Y.) racked up 11 kills (.333) while contributing two block assists.
Gulls junior Adam Dake (Victor, N.Y.) dished out 28 assists with sophomore Chad Riorden (Fairport, N.Y.) adding 12 more assists in Endicott's two-setter system. Dake and C. Riorden also helped set up offensive outputs of seven kills apiece from junior middle Seth Braquet (Destrehan, La.) and senior outside Troy Riorden (Fairport, N.Y.).
Braquet and fellow middle Jacob Newman (Chester, N.H.) were an essential part of Endicott's 10 total block assists by accumulating a combined five block assists at the net.
BEYOND THE BOX SCORE
- Endicott is now 31-3 all-time against Elms including a 17-3 mark inside MacDonald Gymnasium.
- The last time Endicott and Elms met was in the 2017 NECC Championship – the Gulls won their fifth straight conference title in that match.
- The Gulls have won 13 straight matches over the Blazers dating back to the 2014 season.
- As a team, Endicott hit .304 with Braquet's 7-1-10 (.600) accounting for the highest individual hitting percentage.
- C. Riorden had eight digs in the match, his second highest total of the season to his 11-dig effort on January 30 in a four-set win over Johnson & Wales (R.I.).
FOR THE FOES
- Blazers senior outside hitter Gabriel Reis Levy (Rio De Janeiro, Brazil) led Elms with an outstanding 10-0-15 (.667) line with an ace and one block assist.
- Freshmen opposites Jovanny Torres (Juncos, P.R.) and Martin Acevedo (Carolina, P.R.) added nine and six kills, respectively, in the loss.
- Jo. Torres also set 18 balls for kills, totaled a team-best 11 digs, and had one solo and one assisted block.
WHAT'S NEXT
Endicott (15-1, 6-0 NECC) hosts their final match before spring break on Wednesday, March 7 against United Volleyball Conference (UVC) foe MIT starting at 6:00 PM. Both Endicott and MIT are receiving votes in the latest AVCA Division III Top-15 national poll. Elms (11-4, 4-1 NECC) is off until Tuesday, March 13 when they host conference opponent Newbury for a 7:00 PM start.
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(Photo Credit - David Le '10)