Posted: Feb 06, 2010
HOBOKEN, N.J. – The Endicott College men’s volleyball team suffered a pair of tough setbacks on Saturday afternoon, falling to the Stevens Institute of Technology, 3-1, and then dropping three-straight games to \#10 Vassar College in a loss to the Brewers. Endicott falls to 6-4 overall this season with the pair of non-league losses.
In the first match of the day, the Ducks defeated Endicott, 3-1 (30-17, 30-23, 26-30 and 30-21). The opening set featured strong serving from Brandt Grobeis at the start, as Stevens raced out to a double-digit lead at 17-7. Stevens continued to build its lead to 25-13, as senior outside hitter John Dennan had a great kill followed by a block on the next point to put away the Gulls late in the game.
Following a Stevens win in the second set, the teams traded points to begin the third and after 16 points both teams were tied at eight. Endicott scored the next four points, but Stevens battled back to tie the score again at 14. Endicott once more took the lead, this time for good by a count of 17-20. A great kill by Tom Hannum seemed to quell the Endicott momentum for a moment, but the set ended on a hard kill down the line by \#A.J. Witkofsky\# (Scotia, N.Y.) with the Ducks trailing by four.
Early in the fourth set, Stevens got a block from senior Christopher Egebo, who had three in the match. After an ace by Ryan Dunham, the Ducks enjoyed a 6-4 lead. Still leading 13-12 but with Endicott serving, John Dennan had a monster kill that sparked the Ducks to the finish. PremDas was brilliant while serving seven straight points, including two aces. After his service run, Stevens led 27-17. The teams continued to battle until, after another kill by Dennan, the final was 30-21, with Stevens winning the match 3-1.
Witkofsky led the Gulls with 16 kills and a team-high seven digs against the Ducks. \#Zeke Kubisch\# (Bethlehem, N.Y.) also reached double-digits in kills with 10 while \#Ben Foster\# (Penfield, N.Y.) handed out 36 assists in the four games.
The Gulls then took on \#10-ranked Vassar and went down in straight sets, 30-25, 30-26, 30-24. The Brewers hit an impressive .457 and .516 en route to the victory.
The Blue and Green return to action on Tuesday as the Gulls travel to Cambridge, Mass. for a NECVA matchup with MIT at 7:00 p.m.
