Endicott dismantles Engineers, 3-0
March 3, 2009
BEVERLY, Mass. - The 13th-ranked Endicott men's volleyball team kept its unbeaten NECVA New England record alive, as the Gulls fired past MIT, 3-0, on Tuesday night in Beverly, Mass. The Blue and Green posted game scores of 30-22, 30-26 and 30-24 to improve their record to 18-7 overall and 11-0 in conference play. The loss snaps an 11-match winning streak for the Engineers, dropping their record to 16-10 and 9-4 in divisional play.
A back-and-forth opening frame featured nine ties before the Gulls were able to pull away late. With the score 17-15 in Endicott's favor, juniors Ben Foster (Penfield, N.Y.) and A.J. Witkofsky (Scotia, N.Y.) teamed up for consecutive kills and service aces to make it a 20-16 game. From there, Endicott scored 10 of the final 16 points to earn a 30-22 victory.
In the second game, MIT's Michael Demyttenaere (Brussels, Belgium) rifled off six kills on his own but it wouldn't be enough as the Gulls notched a 30-26 win. Zeke Kubisch (Bethlehem, N.Y.) posted four kills with just one error in the second set, capitalizing on Endicott's early momentum by aiding in the construction of a dominating 17-4 lead. Despite the lopsided score, MIT mounted a comeback, cutting the deficit to three at 23-20 on an assisted block by Caine Jette (Haiku, Hawaii) and Scott Pollom (Indianapolis, Ind.). Endicott's Jordan Durant (Honolulu, Hawaii) helped halt the comeback attempt as he secured a streak-ending kill, helping push the Gulls to a tight 30-26 win.
In the final game, the two sides traded points until the midpoint of the set. With the score knotted at 14-all, Endicott rattled off seven of the next nine points to take a commanding 21-16 lead. Led by a seven kill effort from A.J. Witkofsky in the final set, the Engineers sealed the night with an attack error by Scott Pollom to force the 30-24 defeat.
A.J. Witkofsky had a team-high 14 kills and three total blocks in the win. Zeke Kubisch had 12 kills and just three errors while John Emery (Westford, Mass.) had eight kills for the Gulls. Ben Foster dished out an impressive 43 assists in just the three games while Dan Coleman (Millis, Mass.) had nine digs including a spectacular diving save that eventually resulted in an Endicott point.
MIT's Michael Demyttenaere had a match-high 15 kills. Garrett Winther (Broomfield, Colo.) chipped in with eight kills while teammate Tim Lee (Natick, Mass.) accounted for 22 assists.
Endicott returns to action on Thursday evening when the Gulls host Daniel Webster for a 7:00 p.m. start. MIT will return home for a pivotal NECVA New England contest on the same night when the Engineers square-off with Newbury College.