Posted: Apr 13, 2012
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BEVERLY, Mass. – Senior captain Jeremy Siden (Natick, Mass.) struck a team-high 12 kills with a .500 hitting percentage to lead the top-seeded Endicott men’s volleyball team to a 3-0 (25-19, 25-17, 25-14) win over \#4 Daniel Webster in the NECC Semifinals.
The Gulls (16-13) will face the winner of the other semifinal between \#2 Elms and \#3 Southern Vermont on Saturday, April 14th at 4:00 pm in the title match. The winner of the 2012 NECC Championship will earn an automatic qualifier into the first-ever NCAA Division III Men’s Volleyball Tournament.
Daniel Webster (14-7) ended their record-setting season behind a 13-kill, seven-dig effort by sophomore outside hitter Joe Walz (East Longmeadow, Mass.) and another 11 kills from freshman middle Joel Hendrix (Keneohe, Hawaii).
Siden’s 12 kills were complemented by five errorless strikes from freshman middle Thomas Stoeckinger (Malibu, Calif.) and another four kills, with just one error, from junior right side Matt Devendorf (Glastonbury, Conn.). Setters Jeremy Schlosser (Emmaus, Pa.) and Carter Roche (Clifton Park, N.Y.) dished out a combined 26 assists in three sets, helping the Gulls to a .257 team hitting percentage.
Defensively at the net, the Blue and Green blocked 7.5 Eagles attempts as a team with junior outside hitter Kevin Duggan (Glastonbury, Conn.) and Stoeckinger leading the way with four and three assisted blocks each. Senior libero Andrew Slocum (Burnt Hill, N.Y.) and Siden tied for a team-high five digs.
Daniel Webster did their part in the blocking game as well, as both Hendrix and senior Chris Shannon (Ronkonkoma, N.Y.) were a factor with four and three blocks, respectively. Hendrix added a solo stop in the loss. Eagles setter Eric Smith (Clay, N.Y.), along with Walz, had seven digs in addition to 13 assists. Kyle Clement (Weymouth, Mass.) set the match-high with 16 assists.
In the first set, Endicott and Daniel Webster battled back-and-forth and were tied 10-10 before the Gulls were able to capture five of the next six points to garner their largest lead of the set. Daniel Webster fought back to tie it at 16 apiece, but another Endicott run gave EC a 21-17 advantage. The Gulls went on to win 25-19.
Endicott looked to jump out to an early lead in the second set but Daniel Webster held the Gulls in check. The Gulls, however, rattled off a strong run to go up 20-12 and went on to win 25-17.
The Gulls won the first five points of the third set but the Eagles trimmed the lead down to three points at 12-9 before Endicott won six straight points to go up 18-9. Endicott took the set 25-14 and won the match 3-0.
