BOSTON, Mass. – The Endicott men's volleyball team has won four straight matches after sweeping a tri-match with non-conference rivals Emerson and Vassar on Saturday. The Gulls fell in a two-set hole against the host Emerson but stormed back to win in five sets and in the next match, Endicott carried that momentum to garner their first win over Vassar since the 2009 season.
Endicott (5-2, 1-0 NECC) continues their New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) schedule on Wednesday, February 19th when they take on a one-win Newbury squad on the road. The Nighthawks are coming off a straight set defeat to NECC opponent Daniel Webster on Saturday.
Match One: Endicott 3, Emerson 2 (23-25, 22-25, 25-20, 25-22, 15-11)
Trailing by two sets to the Lions, Endicott rallied behind a record-setting performance by senior middle blocker Mike Coniglione (Glenville, N.Y.) and strong performances on the attack by sophomores Alex Wasik (Milford, Mass.) and John Osborne (Freehold, N.J.) to beat Emerson in five sets. Endicott improved to 5-0 all-time against Emerson since their first meeting in 2011.
Coniglione broke two-time American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) All-American AJ Witkofsky's '10 records for blocks and block assists in a single match with 13 against Emerson on Saturday. Eleven of his 13 total blocks were assisted stuffs at the net which was also good for a program record. Witkofsky's previous record for total blocks came back on January 23rd, 2010 in a 3-0 Endicott win over Wentworth when he made 12 blocks, four of which were solo, while his block assist record was on February 21st, 2009 when the nine assisted blocks of his 10 total led to a 3-1 Gulls victory.
Against Emerson on Saturday, Coniglione's record was aided by strong blocking efforts by Wasik (five BAs) as well as Osborne and senior Brennan Lowe (Malibu, Calif., 4 BAs each).
Offensively, Osborne struck a season-high 17 kills with Wasik setting a personal best with 13 kills. Conglione and fellow captain Travis Netherton (Waukegan, Ill.) contributed with nine and seven kills, respectively.
Senior setter and captain Carter Roche (Clifton Park, N.Y.) was the engineer for Endicott's comeback with a career-high 53 assists while dumping five kills and defending with 11 digs. Libero Aaron Jessee (Okinawa, Japan) matched Roche with 11 digs with Osborne totaling 10 of his own.
Match Two: Endicott 3, Vassar 0 (25-19, 25-16, 25-18)
Taking on a Vassar program Endicott had lost to for four straight seasons, the Gulls were electric with a .385 team hitting percentage and 11 more team blocks while holding the Brewers to just a .031 clip on attack.
The Gulls benefited from a 12-kill match from Netherton who turned in his third double figure kill effort of the season and his second in three matches. The senior committed just one error on 19 attempts for a .579 hitting percentage.
Endicott welcome back senior right side Josh Anderson (La Canada, Calif.) who in his first action of 2014 totaled 12 errorless swings with six kills (.500) while providing two solo blocks. On the outside, Lowe also didn't commit an error with five kills on 10 attempts with five digs and a block assist. Wasik added four more kills after his standout effort against Emerson.
Roche dished out 33 assists with five digs, a solo and assisted block. Jessee and Osborne were once again among the leaders in Endicott's defense of the Vassar attack with a match-high eight digs apiece.
