Box
Score
BEVERLY, Mass. – The Endicott College
men’s volleyball team, ranked number six in the nation and
winners of its last 12 games, had beaten MIT by the score of 3-2 in
each of the squad’s two earlier matchups this season. The
Engineers made sure that wasn’t going to be the case on
Wednesday. Behind set scores of 30-21, 31-29 and 30-23, the
13th-ranked visitors from Cambridge rattled off a crucial NECVA New
England win to improve their record to 22-7 overall and 10-2 in
league play. Endicott slips to 18-5 and 8-1 against divisional foes
with the setback.
14 attack errors resulted in a -.139 percentage in an opening set
30-21 loss for the Gulls. MIT, on the other hand, posted 16 kills
and just five errors (.306) in the first frame victory. The
visitor’s Patrick Vatterott (St. Louis, Mo.) and Michael
Demyttenaere (Brussels, Belgium) led the charge as they scored four
kills apiece and combined for four blocks in game one.
A see-saw affair in the second set eventually sided with the
Engineers as MIT overcame a late 27-26 deficit to rally to the
31-29 bonus win. Freshman Matt Hohenberger (St. Louis, Mo.) posted
seven kills on 10 swings with just one error in the frame, while
David Thomas (Carlsbad, Calif.) had six kills to go along with two
blocks. Eric Reuland (Laguna Niguel, Calif.) notched seven digs in
the winning set. Endicott’s \#A.J. Witkofsky\# (Scotia, N.Y.)
did his best to keep Endicott close in the frame, as he had six
kills, three digs, one block and one ace in game two.
MIT opened up a 6-2 lead en route to a 30-23 game three sweep. A
balanced attack featured Thomas and Hohenberger posting four and
three kills, respectively, while Vatterott had three solo blocks.
Witkofsky and \#Zeke Kubisch\# (Bethlehem, N.Y.) each had four
kills in the frame for the hosts.
David Thomas finished the night with 13 kills, three blocks and
two digs while Matt Hohenberger had 12 kills and just two errors in
the win. Patrick Vatterott had 10 kills and six total blocks while
junior setter Tim Lee (Natick, Mass.) handed out 41 assists.
Endicott got 14 kills from Witkofsky and 10 from senior \#John
Emery\# (Westford, Mass.). \#David Lowe\# (Burnt Hill, N.Y.)
notched 11 digs while setter \#Ben Foster\# (Penfield, N.Y.) edged
his opposing counterpart with 42 assists in the losing effort.
Gone is the 12-match winning streak that dated back to February
9th, and with it goes a comfortable home-stand in which Endicott
played nine of its last 11 contests on home court. The Gulls get
right back to work, however, as the Blue and Green hit the road on
Thursday for a matchup with Daniel Webster College. MIT takes on
those same Eagles on Friday evening in Nashua, N.H.
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