BEVERLY, Mass. – The Endicott men's volleyball team will be heading to the NCAA Division III Tournament for the second straight season with an automatic qualifying bid after capturing the New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) Championship with a 3-1 (22-25, 25-19, 25-23, 25-18) victory over Daniel Webster on Saturday afternoon in MacDonald Gymnasium.
Playing as the top seed in the tournament, the Blue and Green struggled in the opening set against #2 Daniel Webster but rebounded to close out each of the remaining three sets including a convincing win in the fourth in which the Gulls hit .419 as a team. Endicott was led by NECC Tournament Most Valuable Player, sophomore setter Tyler Bacon (Cypress, Calif.), who had 34 assists, 10 digs, four kills, and two blocks in the championship match.
On the All-Tournament Team from Endicott were senior middle Mike Coniglione (Glenville, N.Y.) and senior right side Josh Anderson (La Canada, Calif.) who combined for 20 kills and a .444 hitting percentage to lead the Gulls offense against the Eagles. Coniglione struck eight kills with five block assists and Anderson matched sophomore John Osborne (Freehold, N.J.) for a team-high 12 kills with two block assists in the win.
For Daniel Webster, senior outside hitter Joe Walz (East Longmeadow, Mass.) and sophomore middle Jose Vargas (Lawrence, Mass.) were named to the NECC All-Tournament Team after leading the visiting Eagles with 13 kills and seven kills, respectively. Walz added five digs and two block assists and Vargas totaled five block assists and an ace in the loss.
Eagles junior middle Joel Hendrix (Kane'ohe, Hawaii) led all players with 15 kills while adding four digs and three aces. Setter Ariel Frias (Lawrence, Mass.) dished out 40 assists in the loss.
This is Endicott's second straight conference championship and automatic qualifier into the NCAA Division III Tournament. Last season, the Gulls defeated Elms in the NECC Championship 3-0 and hosted a NCAA First Round match against Kean. On Monday, April 14th at 10:00 am, the NCAA Selection Show will reveal with the nine-team bracket that will be competing for this year's NCAA Division III Championship.
