BEVERLY, Mass. – The Endicott men's volleyball team defeated Nichols, 3-0, by scores of 28-26, 25-21, and 25-22 in conference action on Saturday afternoon at MacDonald Gymnasium.
With the win, the Gulls locked up the No. 1 seed in the upcoming New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) Tournament.
Mason Mallory (Playa del Rey, Calif.) led all student-athletes with a match-high 12 kills on 25 swings (.400). He also added two service aces, three digs, and three block assists to his stat line in the victory.
Nikolas Kasprzak (Windham, N.H.) chipped in with 10 kills (.400), three digs, and four block assists, while Rafa Robert (San Juan, Puerto Rico) notched nine kills, six digs, and four block assists.
Gabe DeBenedetto (Rockford, Ill.) ran the offense via 33 assists (.402) in addition to three digs and three block assists.
Adin Jepsky (San Jose, Calif.) also provided a spark off the bench with one assist and six digs, four of which correlated directly into kills (match-high).
Today's match featured 22 ties (10-5-7) and nine lead changes (4-3-2).
BEYOND THE BOX SCORES
- The Gulls are 10-0 all-time against Nichols.
- Set one featured ties late in the opener at 20-20, 21-21, 23-23, 24-24, 25-25, and 26-26 before Mallory and Kasprzak put home kills to go up 1-0.
- Two out of three sets were tied at 20-20 (set one, set three).
- Endicott rallied from a 7-1 deficit in set three.
- The Gulls posted a season-high 24 blocks (two solo, 22 assisted) today.
- Brady Mullens (Aurora, Colo.) was a brick wall at the net registering one solo block and a match-high seven block assists.
- Brian Wightman (Las Vegas, Nev.) put together a 25-for-26 line on serve-receive.
- Robert (12-for-12) and Mallory (24-for-24) were perfect on serve-receive for the Gulls.
WHAT'S NEXT
Endicott (13-9, 8-0 NECCC) will compete in the NECC Semifinals on Thursday, April 13 (time TBD). Nichols (20-8, 7-1 NECC) also will compete in the conference semifinals next Thursday.
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(Photo Credit - Ryan Asia Atkins '23)
