Nazareth and Rivier to Meet in March Mania Final

March 5, 2006

BEVERLY, MA - Rivier College and Nazareth will play in the Endicott March Mania Tournament Sunday at 4:00 PM.

Rivier came back from 2-0 down to defeat SUNY New Paltz in a barnburner, 3-2 (22-30, 24-30, 30-20, 30-20, 15-12). Greg Stanton (Haverhill, MA) led the way with 16 kills while Andrew Chace (East Providence, RI) added 15 kills in the win. Nhut Chau (Lawrence, MA) dished out 42 assists and powered the defense with 10 digs.

Ryan Bullard (Smithtown, NY) picked up 17 kills while Greg Jackson (Central Square, NY) added 10 kills for SUNY New Paltz. Matt Weingarten (East Morchies, NY) dished out 40 assists and now leads the tournament with 138 assists in three matches. Pedro Medina Brentwood, NY) led the defense with 21 digs.

Medaille took Nazareth to five games as well but came out on the losing end of a 3-2 (29-31, 30-26, 27-30, 30-23, 18-16). Joe Petzoldz (Phelps, NY) led Nazareth with 18 kills while Alex Cloutier (Racine, WI) added 16 kills and Frank Leahy (Smithtown, NY) dished out 48 assists. Chris DeHority (Rochester, NY) had 10 digs in the win.

Medaille got 18 kills from Erik Hartman (Hamburg, NY) as well as 14 kills and 15 digs from Jake Beiter (Eden, NY). Joe Tilert (Angola, NY) handed out 56 assists. Brett Wood (Brewerton, NY) (13 kills) and Drew Lewandowski (Kenmore, NY) (7 digs) also contributed for Medaille.

Villa Julie defeated MSOE, 3-0 (30-21, 30-25, 30-27), finishing the tournament 2-2 and earning ninth place.

MSOE went 1-3 overall for a 10th place finish, but got plenty of help from Dan Goray (Addison, WI) and Mike Mocchi (Wheeling, IL), who recorded 14 and 10 kills, respectively. Kevin House (Plainfield, IL) dug up 10 balls and handed out 33 assists.

Hunter took 11th place with a 3-2 victory over Wentworth. Hunter finished 1-3 overall while the Leopards ended up 0-4.