BEVERLY, Mass. – Endicott middle blocker and senior captain Travis Netherton (Waukegan, Ill.) collected his second New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) Player of the Week award of his career in a 3-0 week for the Gulls who secured home-court advantage as the top seed in the April 11th-12 NECC Tournament.
Netherton averaged 3.12 kills per set with a .476 attack percentage as well as 1.00 block per set in eight sets played over the course of Endicott's three conference victories over Lesley, Southern Vermont, and Daniel Webster. For the week, Netherton amassed 25 kills on 42 swings with just five errors, eight blocks, six digs, two service aces, and an assist.
Netherton played just one set in Endicott's straight-set (25-13, 25-17, 25-21) victory over Lesley and turned in five errorless attempts, registering four kills with one dig. Endicott rebounded from their road loss to Southern Vermont back on March 4th by handing the Mountaineers a 3-1 (25-16, 26-24, 19-25, 25-10) defeat at MacDonald Gymnasium as Netherton shined with 11 kills (.381), four digs, and four blocks including two solo stuffs. With a chance to clinch the top seed in the playoffs, the Gulls relished their opportunity by beating Daniel Webster 3-0 (25-15, 25-15, 25-18) behind 10 kills (.500) and four block assists from Netherton.
With two solo blocks this week, Netherton moved into a tie for fifth on Endicott's all-time block solo leaderboard with Russ Friedland '05 and John Emery '10 with 42 rejections at the net.
Endicott has now been the top seed and the host for the postseason tournament in each of their three seasons as associate members of the NECC. The tournament will begin on Friday, April 11th as the top four teams begin semifinal action.
Until then, the Blue and Green turn their focus to their final five regular season matches starting with NECC opponent Newbury at home on Thursday, April 3rd starting at 7:00 pm. The team will take time before that match to honor the seven members of their senior class in Josh Anderson (La Canada, Calif.), Brandon Chadwick (Chelmsford, Mass.), Mike Coniglione (Glenville, N.Y.), Aaron Jessee (Okinawa, Japan), Brennan Lowe (Malibu, Calif.), Netherton, and Carter Roche (Clifton Park, N.Y.).
