Jan. 28, 2008
SPRINGFIELD, Mass. - The Endicott College men's volleyball stole the opening game against the nation's top-ranked team, but then dropped three-straight, falling to Springfield College, 3-1, on Monday night in Springfield, Massachusetts. With the win, the Pride's third in a row, Springfield now stands at 4-1 on the season while the Gulls drop to 2-2.
Endicott took the court on Monday with upset on its mind, knocking off Springfield, 30-26, in game one. With the score 22-21 in favor of the Pride, Endicott closed out the game on an impressive 8-4 run to earn the opening frame. Endicott aced the Pride on four occasions in the first game.
The second game needed extra points to be decided as both teams offense's slowed down considerably. In the second game, the Pride managed to hit .000 compared to -.019 for the visiting Gulls. With 15 ties in the game, a back and forth effort found the Pride knotted at 32. A kill from freshman Cal Palumbo (Rochester, N.Y.) put the home squad up one and a Gull attack error knotted the match at one games apiece.
Peter Manguiat (Sacramento, Calif.) sparked the Springfield offense with a trio of aces in the opening nine points of the third game, as SC opened up a 7-2 lead that it would not relinquish. Springfield, which outhit the visitors, .409- -.100, led by as many as 10 in the game to take a two games to one advantage.
In the fourth stanza, the Pride opened up a 6-3 lead after a Endicott attack error, forcing a Gull timeout. The home team would not look back as it continued on to win its third-consecutive game. Yates closed out the match for the Pride with a kill, his sixth in two games, as SC moved to 4-0 this year against Division III opponents.
Sophomore All-American AJ Nally (Rochester, N.Y.) registered a team-best 13 kills to go along with 14 digs and three blocks in the win. Palumbo added 10 kills, hitting .571, to go along with six blocks while Yates hit .714, hammering out six kills and added two blocks. All-American Brandon Waas (Rochester, N.Y.) added 10 digs for the Pride. Eric Shoemaker (Mount Wolf, Pa.) came off the bench to dish out 31 assists.
A.J. Witkofsky (Scotia, N.Y.) knocked out a game-high 20 kills and was the lone Gull in double-figures in the kill column. Dan Coleman (Millis, MA) recorded 15 digs while Ben Foster (Penfield, N.Y.) handed out 38 assists.
Endicott (2-2, 0-0 NECVA) returns to action on Thursday evening as they travel to New Haven, Connecticut to square-off with the University of New Haven. Game time is slated for 7:00 pm.
