NASHUA, N.H. – In their first match at the Live Free or Die Invitational, hosted by Daniel Webster and Rivier, the Endicott men's volleyball team lost in straight sets (25-18, 25-23, 27-25) to GNAC foe Johnson & Wales (R.I.) as their 2015 record fell to 1-4 overall.
The Gulls, unfortunately, saw a streak of eight-straight victories over JWU come to an end as the Wildcats got a match-high 14 kills from sophomore opposite Brendan Baker (Providence, R.I.) and a 32-assist, nine-dig effort from senior setter J.J. Bessette (Coventry, R.I.). JWU improved to 8-1 overall on the season with the win.
Endicott will look to return to the win column on Sunday, day two of the invitational, when they take on Lasell and #9 Rivier starting at 11:00 a.m.
Endicott leaned on junior outside John Osborne (Freehold, N.J.) as well as junior middle Daniel Toth (Vernon, N.J.) for offensive production as Osborne struck a team-high 11 kills on 30 swings (.167) while Toth hit an efficient .462 with seven kills on 13 attempts. Junior outside Dan Seaver (Milford, Mass.) also factored into Endicott's attack with eight kills.
Endicott saw freshman Troy Riorden (Fairport, N.Y.) set 18 assists over the first two frames before turning to junior setter Cameron Little (San Diego, Calif.) who was effective with 12 assists on 31 set attempts with one error.
Defensively, the Gulls struggled to contain Baker but did manage to create four team blocks as Toth had his hands in three of them with block assists. JWU did get offensive contributions from junior outside Ryan Kennedy (West Barnstable, Mass.) and junior middle Kyle Eva (Charlestown, R.I.0) who added eight and six kills, respectively. Osborne led all players with 13 digs while defensive specialists Stewart Allendorph (Delmar, N.Y.) and Kristian Catalan (Sudbury, Mass.) had 11 and seven digs in the loss.
