Posted: Mar 30, 2010
BEVERLY, Mass. – The Endicott College men’s volleyball team captured its second-straight NECVA New England Division regular season Championship with a 3-0 (30-19, 30-11, 30-16) win over visiting Newbury College on Tuesday night in Beverly, Mass. The No. 10 ranked Gulls improve to 25-7 overall and 14-1 in division games while the No. 13 ranked Nighthawks fall to 22-11 and 11-3 in league games.
Endicott raced out to an early 13-6 lead capped off by a service ace from \#Andrew Slocum\# (Burnt Hills, N.Y.) that prompted a Nighthawks timeout. Endicott quickly stretched its lead out to 20-9 before Newbury was forced to burn another timeout. \#John Emery\# (Westford, Mass.) gave the Gulls a 27-11 lead by way of three service aces before the Nighthawks staged one final push as Newbury blocked five straight Endicott attack attempts and cut the deficit to 10. The two teams traded points at the end of the set but Endicott grabbed a 30-19 win in set one on a kill from \#A.J. Witkofsky\# (Scotia, N.Y.).
The second set started much like the first as Endicott led 8-2 before the Nighthawks called a timeout. Endicott pushed its lead to 17-2 before a \#Zeke Kubisch\# (Bethlehem, N.Y.) service error ended a 12-2 run but the Gulls. The Blue and Green kept their foot on the throttle throughout the rest of the set, grabbing a dominating 30-11 win to take a 2-0 lead in the match.
In set three, Newbury took its first and only lead of the match at 3-2 before the Gulls grabbed a 15-7 lead capped off by a service ace from \#B.J. Worth\# (Londonderry, N.H.) that forced another Newbury timeout. The Nighthawks never recovered as the Gulls took a 30-16 win in set three for the 3-0 sweep over Newbury and the NECVA New England Division regular season Championship as well.
Endicott was led by 13 kills and eight digs from \#A.J. Witkofsky\# who posted a .417 hitting percentage. \#John Emery\# also posted double-digit kills as the senior swung an extremely efficient .643 en route to 11 kills including five service aces. \#Ben Foster\# (Penfield, N.Y.) handed out a game high 32 assists while also having a team-high nine digs.
Newbury was led by six kills from James Beck (Havre De Grace, Md.) and five kills apiece from Mark Thomas (Wilbraham, Mass.) and Danny Kim (Plainview, N.Y.). Alex Amylon (Scituate, R.I.) posted a team-high 13 assists while Josh Aberly (Palatine, Ill.) had a team-high nine digs.
The Blue and Green return to action on Thursday as the Gulls host the Blazers of Elms College at 4:00 p.m. in Beverly, Mass. Newbury will look to rebound when it hosts Harvard University at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday.
