Gulls capture tournament, final recaps and results

February 21, 2010

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For the first time since starting the Endicott Invitational Tournament nine years ago, the Endicott College Gulls captured the tournament title by posting a perfect 4-0 weekend record that was capped off by a thrilling 3-2 win over MIT. The Gulls’ \#A.J. Witkofsky\# (Scotia, N.Y.) was named Tournament MVP while teammate \#Ben Foster\# (Penfield, N.Y.) joined him and five others players from different institutions on the All-Tournament Team.

Name	Year	Position	Height	College/University	Hometown
TOURNAMENT MVP
\#A.J. Witkofsky\#	SR	MB	6’4”	Endicott	Scotia, N.Y.
2010 ENDICOTT INVITATIONAL ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM
\#Ben Foster\#	SR	S	5’11”	Endicott	Penfield, N.Y.
Jared Andreozzi	JR	OH	6’4”	Rivier	Barrington, R.I.
Zach Hansen	SR	S	6’1”	Rivier	Shelton, Conn.
Matt Hohenberger	FR	OH	6’6”	MIT	St. Louis, Mo.
Kurt Backlund	SR	L	6’0”	Ramapo	Old Bridge, N.J.
HONORABLE MENTION
Curtis Abram	JR	OH	6’2”	Emmanuel	San Luis Obispo, Calif.
Chris Edra	JR	L	5’6”	NJCU	Edison, N.J.
Jake Moore	SR	OH	6’6”	SUNY New Paltz	Cortlandt Manor, N.Y.
Jeremy Sajdak	JR	OH/S	6’5”	D’Youville	Rochester, N.Y.
Dan Wolfe	JR	OH	6’3”	Hilbert	Rochester, N.Y.

Day 2 recaps and results

D’Youville defeats SUNY IT, 3-0 (30-20, 30-12, 30-15)

After going 0-2 in Pool C play yesterday, D’Youville posted its first win of the weekend by downing SUNY IT, 3-0, on Sunday morning at day two of the Endicott Invitational Tournament. The Spartans got 14 kills and seven blocks from junior Jeremy Sajdak (Rochester, N.Y.), while a pair of freshmen in Chris Temple (Highwood, Ill.) and Todd Potter (Kenmore, N.Y.) finished with 11 and 10 kills, respectively. Fellow freshman JJ Senozetnik (Eden, N.Y.) was also strong for D’Youville, posting 41 assists and seven digs in the win.

SUNY IT’s Jeff Coon (Cheektowaga, N.Y.) had nine kills and three blocks while Kevin Nelson (Oneida, N.Y.) and Tyler Meister (Beaver Falls, N.Y.) each had seven kills apiece. Ryan Meller (Eden, N.Y.) handed out 22 assists while Alex Rahmel (Cornwall, N.Y.) turned in a 14 dig performance for the Wildcats.

Endicott defeats \#7 Rivier, 3-0 (30-28, 30-27, 30-26)

Three Endicott College players notched 14+ kills as the Gulls defeated \#7 Rivier College in the opening game of day two as a part of the Endicott Invitational. \#A.J. Witkfosky\# (Scotia, N.Y.) had 19 kills and seven digs while \#John Emery\# (Westford, Mass.) and \#Zeke Kubisch\# (Bethlehem, N.Y.) each added 14 kills apiece in the win. Endicott’s \#Ben Foster\# (Penn, N.Y.) handed out 51 assists while \#B.J. Worth\# (Londonderry, N.H.) had a team-high 10 digs. \#James Sliva\# (Monroe, Conn.) had five total blocks while \#Jordan Durant\# (Honolulu, Hawaii) added three total blocks of his own.

Rivier was led by 18 kills from Jared Andreozzi (Barrington, R.I.) and 11 kills from Matt Ferreira (North Providence, R.I.). Zach Hansen (Shelton, Conn.) added a team-high 46 assists and 11 digs in the setback. Defensively, Taylor Lindner (Cheshire, Conn.) and Drew Corwin (Sudbury, Mass.) combined for eight total blocks.

NJCU defeats Hilbert, 3-1 (30-18, 28-30, 30-19, 30-28)

New Jersey City University got 20 kills from freshman outside Jose Matta (San Juan, Puerto Rico) and 21 digs from junior Chris Edra (Edison, N.J.) as the Gothic Knights downed Hilbert College, 3-1, on Sunday morning. NJCU also received 18 kills from Austin Bryant (Virginia Beach, Va.) and 30 assists from Jorge Rodriguez (Havana, Cuba). Bryant also turned in seven blocks for the Gothic Knights.

Hilbert was led by Dan Wolfe’s (Rochester, N.Y.) 11 kills and 19 digs. Vince Amico (Buffalo, N.Y.) had 30 assists while RJ Sykora (Stow, Ohio) had 17 digs and seven kills for the Hawks.

Emmanuel defeats SUNY New Paltz, 3-1 (15-30, 30-26, 30-20, 30-20)

Emmanuel’s Curtis Abram (San Luis Obispo, Calif.) had 27 kills while hitting .548 and added five aces to help the Saints defeat SUNY New Paltz, 3-1. Tyson Rietz (Granite Bay, Calif.) also had a big game for EC as he had 17 kills while hitting .538 and added three total blocks. Michael Townsend (Beverdam, Va.) had nine kills and a team-high 11 digs while Taylor Lowe (Malibu, Calif.) had 31 assists and eight digs for the Saints.

SUNY New Paltz faces off with Ramapo College in their final match of the tournament at 1:00 p.m.

Rivier defeats MIT, 3-0 (30-26, 32-30, 30-22)

Rivier College defeated MIT, 3-0, behind Jared Andreozzi (Barrington, R.I.) and John Furka (Massapequa, N.Y.) who had 20 and 11 kills each, respectively. Zach Hansen (Shelton, Conn.) handed out 41 assists and added 11 digs while Drew Corwin (Sudbury, Mass.) notched a game-high 13 digs. Matt Ferreira (North Providence, R.I.) had seven kills and eight blocks while Furka also added six blocks in addition to his 11 kills.

MIT was led by 13 kills from Mike Demyttenaere (Brussels, Belgium) and eight kills apiece from Matt Hohenberger (St. Louis, Mo.) and David Thomas (Carlsbad, Calif.). Tim Lee (Natick, Mass.) dished out 38 assists and added 11 digs while Eric Reuland (Laguna Niguel, Calif.) also reached double-digit digs with 10. Demyttenaere combined with Patrick Vatterott (St. Louis, Mo.) for seven total blocks in the setback.

Ramapo defeats SUNY New Paltz, 3-1 (29-31, 30-26, 30-24, 30-28)

Ramapo’s Kevin Froehlich (Ringwood, N.J.) had 19 kills and senior Matt Scott (Edison, N.J.) tallied 56 assists as the Roadrunners grounded the Hawks, 3-1, on Sunday afternoon. Steve Vahalla (Bloomfield, N.J.) and Jeff Elsasser (Barnegat, N.J.) both finished with double-digit kills, notching 17 and 10, respectively, in the win. Edward Rossiter (Edison, N.J.) had 14 digs while Elsasser and Colin McNeill (Little Falls, N.J.) had five blocks apiece.

New Paltz was led by Jake Moore’s (Cortlandt Manor, N.Y.) 17 kills. Sean Foley (Thousand Oaks, Calif.) finished with 12. Andrew Cassius (Brooklyn, N.Y.) dished out 39 assists while Foley posted 18 digs in the losing effort.

NJCU defeats D’Youville College, 3-1 (24-30, 30-28, 30-22, 30-22)

NJCU had four players register double-digit kills as the Gothic Knights defeated D’Youville College, 3-1. The Gothic Knighs had been 0-6 all-time against the Spartans before this weekend’s two wins. Austin Bryant (Virginia Beach, Va.) led NJCU with 19 kills while Jose Matta (San Juan, Puerto Rico) and Kenny Lisk (Old Bridge, N.J.) each added 10 kills apiece in the win. Jorge Rodriguez (Havana, Cuba) had 21 assists while Chris Edra (Edison, N.J.) had 23 digs. Danny Kochanski (Bayonne, N.J.) registered a game-high seven total blocks while Austin Bryant also added six blocks.

D’Youville was led by Jeremy Sajdak (Rochester, N.Y.) and Chris Temple (Highwood, Ill.) who had 15 and 14 kills each, respectively. JJ Senozetnik (Eden, N.Y.) handed out a game-high 37 assists while Rob Dykeman (Perrinville, N.J.) had 14 digs and Brett Peters (Warsaw, N.Y.) had four total blocks for the Spartans.

Hilbert defeats SUNY IT, 3-2 (26-30, 30-25, 29-31, 30-18, 15-4)

Hilbert College needed five sets to put away SUNY IT as the Hawks defeated the Wildcats, 3-2. RJ Sykora (Stow, Ohio) posted a team-high 23 kills, 18 digs and had four blocks while Dan Wolfe (Rochester, N.Y.) added 19 kills and 18 digs in the win. Vince Amico (Buffalo, N.Y.) dished out a game-high 57 assists while Eric Davies (Tonawanda, N.Y.) also 18 digs.

SUNY IT was led by a game-high 24 kills from Jeff Coon (Cheektowaga, N.Y.) and Kevin Nelson’s (Oneida, N.Y.) 14 kills. Ryan Meller (Eden, N.Y.) posted 41 assists while Alex Rahmel (Cornwall, N.Y.) and Tysheem Foy-Carter (Brooklyn, N.Y.) posted 27 and 25 digs each, respectively. Meller and Meister also combined for 12 total blocks in the loss.

Ramapo defeats Emmanuel College, 3-0 (34-32, 30-24, 30-28)

Steve Vahalla (Bloomfield, N.J.) and Jeff Elsasser (Barnegat, N.J.) each tallied 13 kills as Ramapo College defeated Emmanuel College, 3-0. Matt Scott (Edison, N.J.) handed out 43 assists and had seven total blocks while Kurt Backlund (Old Bridge, N.J.) and Eddie Rossiter (Edison, N.J.) added 12 and eight digs each, respectively. Paul Konopacki (Monroe Township, N.J.) led the Roadrunners with a game-high eight total blocks.

Emmanuel was led by Curtis Abram (San Luis Obispo, Calif.) and Tyson Rietz (Granite Bay, Calif.) who posted 13 and 12 kills each, respectively. Taylor Lowe (Malibu, Calif.) handed out 25 assists while Rietz and Michael Townsend (Beaverdam, Va.) tied for the team-lead in digs with six. Tom McCaffrey (Massapequa, N.Y.) notched a team-high five total blocks in the setback.

Endicott defeats MIT, 3-2 (28-30, 30-25, 23-30, 33-31, 15-10)

Endicott College received 23 kills from Tournament MVP \#A.J. Witkofsky\# (Scotia, N.Y.) and 62 assists from All-Tournament Team honoree \#Ben Foster\# (Penfield, N.Y.) as the Gulls downed MIT for the second time this season by the score of 3-2. The Blue and Green posted a perfect 4-0 weekend record with wins over Hilbert, Emmanuel, Rivier and MIT.

Witkofsky also added a team-high 13 digs in the win. \#Jeremy Siden\# (Natick, Mass.) came off the bench to tally 15 kills while \#John Emery\# (Westford, Mass.) notched nine kills on the afternoon.

The Engineers were led by All-Tournament Team member Matt Hohenberger (St. Louis, Mo.), as the freshman outside had 26 kills. Mike Demyttenaere (Brussels, Belgium) chipped in with 18 kills in the losing effort. Tim Lee (Natick, Mass.) finished his weekend with 70 assists and nine digs for MIT.

Day 1 recaps and results

Endicott defeats Hilbert, 3-0 (30-10, 30-9, 30-18)

Endicott got eight kills in just two sets from senior \#John Emery\# (Westford, Mass.) as the Gulls rolled over Hilbert College, 3-0, in the opening game of the 2010 Endicott Invitational Tournament held on Saturday afternoon in Beverly, Mass.

The Gulls, who used set scores of 30-10, 30-9 and 30-18 in the sweep, also got five kills and seven blocks in two sets from senior \#A.J. Witkofsky\# (Scotia, N.Y.). B.J. Worth (Londonderry, N.H.) had five kills while \#Ben Foster\# (Penfield, N.Y.) notched 25 assists. \#Andrew Slocum\# (Burnt Hill. N.Y.) was the Gulls’ dig leader with eight.

Hilbert got five kills from sophomore middle Eric Davies (Tonawanda, N.Y.), while Adam Clabo (North Tonawanda, N.Y.) tallied 11 digs. Vince Amico (Buffalo, N.Y.) had 12 assists for the Hawks.

MIT defeats SUNY IT, 3-0 (30-14, 30-19, 30-22)

Freshmen Alex Becherer (Wauwatosa, Wis.) and Matt Hohenberger (St. Louis, Mo.) each tallied six kills apiece as the Massachusetts Institute of Technology downed SUNY IT, 3-0. Tim Lee (Natick, Mass.) handed out 21 assists in just two sets, while Mike Demyttenaere (Brussels, Belgium) posted five blocks in the same amount of playing time. Becherer also had eight digs for the Engineers.

SUNY IT got nine kills and three blocks from sophomore Ryan Meller (Eden, N.Y.), while freshman middle Jeff Coon (Cheektowaga, N.Y.) had seven kills and four digs. Jon Brochu (Latham, N.Y.) had 16 assists in the Wildcats’ losing effort.

Ramapo defeats SUNY IT, 3-0 (30-15, 31-29, 30-15)

Ramapo College used a pair of bookend 30-15 scores, along with a nail biting 31-29 game two win, to sweep SUNY IT. The Roadrunners were led by Jeff Elsasser (Barnegat, N.J.) and Colin McNeill (Little Falls, N.J.), who notched eight kills apiece in a pair of games. Senior Matt Scott (Edison, N.J.) had 39 assists in three sets while sophomore libero Edward Rossiter (Edison, N.J.) had nine digs. Scott and McNeill each posted five blocks in the winning effort.

SUNY IT was once again led by Ryan Meller (Eden, N.Y.) upfront, as the sophomore outside had 10 kills on the afternoon. Jeff Coon (Cheektowaga, N.Y.) had six kills and three blocks while Jon Brouch (Latham, N.Y.) logged 15 assists. Alex Rahmel (Cornwall, N.Y.) had 15 digs for the Wildcats.

SUNY New Paltz defeats D’Youville, 3-0 (30-17, 30-22, 30-23)

SUNY New Paltz’s Jake Moore (Cortlandt Manor, N.Y.) notched 15 kills while Kevin Stross (Port Washington, N.Y.) added 11 of his own and four block assists as the Hawks defeated D’Youville College, 3-0, in game two of the Endicott Invitational. Andrew Cassius (Brooklyn, N.Y.) led the Hawks with 36 assists while Mike Fink (Rochester, N.Y.) and Sean Foley (Thousand Oaks, Calif.) added 13 and six digs apiece, respectively.

D’Youville had a pair of players score double-digits in kills as Jeremy Sajdak (Rochester, N.Y.) had a team-high 13 kills and Chris Temple (Highwood, Ill.) added 11 for the Spartans. Temple also added three blocks in his three games played while JJ Senozetnik (Eden, N.Y.) handed a game-high 37 assists in the setback.

Rivier defeats NJCU, 3-1 (30-22, 30-11, 28-30, 30-19)

Rivier posted game scores of 30-22, 30-11, 28-30 and 30-19 to down New Jersey City University, 3-1, in one of four 3:00 p.m. games at the Endicott Invitational Tournament on Saturday afternoon. The Raiders coasted early on with easy victories before the Gothic Knights stole a 30-28 win to force a fourth game. The wakeup call was well received by Rivier, as the NECVA GNAC leaders responded with a convincing 30-19 decision to seal the match.

Senior Matt Ferreira (N. Providence, R.I.) led the way with 14 kills and four block for the Raiders. Teammates Taylor Lindner (Cheshire, Conn.) and Jared Andreozzi (Barrington, R.I.) had seven and six kills, respectively. Zach Hansen (Shelton, Conn.) had 31 assists while Andrew Paine (Quincy, Mass.) and Hansen had seven digs apiece.

NJCU was led by Austin Bryant (Virginia Beach, Va.) and his 12 kill and four block effort. Kenny Lisk (Old Bridge, N.J.) also added eight kills in the losing effort. Jorge Rodriguez (Havana, Cuba) had 17 assists while Chris Edra (Edison, N.J.) paced the Gothic Knights with 17 digs.

Emmanuel defeats Hilbert, 3-0 (30-14, 34-32, 30-17)

Emmanuel College received nine kills from Alex McKeen (Stoughton, Mass.) and eight kills apiece from Alex Petty (Wayland, Mass.) and Matt Salvi (Trumbull, Conn.) as the Saints defeated Hilbert College, 3-0. EC also received 38 assists from Nick Updike (Manhattan Beach, Calif.) while McKeen added eight digs and Jim Sutherland (Concord, Calif.) recorded six digs of his own in three games played. Alex Petty and Zach Caron (Hope, R.I.) combined for eight total blocks in the win.

Hilbert College was led by nine kills from RJ Sykora (Stow, Ohio) and six kills from Dan Wolfe (Rochester, N.Y.). Vince Amico (Buffalo, N.Y.) added 23 assists and nine digs while Adam Clabo (North Tonawanda, N.Y.) chipped in with seven digs.

MIT defeats Ramapo, 3-0 (30-22, 30-24, 30-28)

MIT had no problem downing Ramapo College, running past the Roadrunners in three-straight. The Engineers posted game scores of 30-22, 30-24 and 30-28 to capture their second win of the day (beat SUNY IT earlier in the afternoon).

Matt Hohenberger (St. Louis, Mo.) had a team-high 15 kills while Mike Demyttenaere (Brussels, Belgium) and David Thomas (Carlsbad, Calif.) each had 11. Tim Lee (Natick, Mass.) handed out 46 assists and four blocks while Eric Reuland (Laguna Niguel, Calif.) and Alex Becherer (Wauwatosa, Wis.) had eight and six digs, respectively.

Ramapo got nine kills from Josh Castillo (Garfield, N.J.) and eight kills from both Kevin Froehlich (Ringwood, N.J.) and Elvis Cabrera (Clifton, N.J.). Matt Scott (Edison, N.J.) paced the Roadrunners with 34 assists and three blocks while Kurt Backlund (Old Bridge, N.J.) and Edward Rossiter (Edison, N.J.) had 14 and 10 digs.

Rivier defeats SUNY New Paltz, 3-0 (30-23, 30-23, 30-26)

Rivier’s Jared Andreozzi (Barrington, R.I.) had a match-high 14 kills as the Raiders defeated SUNY New Paltz, 3-0, on Saturday night. Rivier also received six kills apiece from Matt Ferreira (North Providence, R.I.) and Zach Hansen (Shelton, Conn.), who also added 34 assists in the win. Kyle O’Neill (Long Beach, N.Y.) and Drew Corwin (Sudbury, Mass.) added 11 and nine digs each while Alex Xenidis (Shelton, Conn.) and Taylor Linder (Cheshire, Conn.) combined for nine total blocks.

New Paltz had three players with double-digit kills led by Jake Moore (Cortlandt Manor, N.Y.) who had 12 in three games. Dan Liberto (Rush, N.Y.) and Kevin Stross (Port Washington, N.Y.) each added 11 and 10 kills each, respectively, while Andrew Cassius (Brooklyn, N.Y.) handed out a game high 35 assists. Mike Fink (Rochester, N.Y.) had seven digs while Moore and Stross combined for seven total blocks.

NJCU defeats D’Youville, 3-2 (18-30, 22-30, 30-21, 30-28, 15-11)

After falling down two sets to none, NJCU stormed back with three-straight wins to down D’Youville, 3-2. Austin Bryant (Virginia Beach, Va.) paced the Gothic Knights with 15 kills while Kenny Lisk (Old Bridge, N.J.) powered home 10. Jorge Rodriguez (Havana, Cuba) had 24 assists while Chris Edra (Edison, N.J.) notched 21 digs. Danny Kochanski (Bayonne, N.J.) had seven blocks in the NJCU victory.

D’Youville’s Jeremy Sajdak (Rochester, N.Y.) had a match-high 24 kills while Chris Temple (Highwood, Ill.) posted 19 kills and 12 digs in the setback. JJ Senozetnik (Eden, N.Y.) had a remarkable 60 assists in the five-game thriller. Junior middle Brett Peters (Warsaw, N.Y.) finished the afternoon with seven blocks for the Spartans.

Endicott defeats Emmanuel, 3-1 (25-30, 30-28, 30-22, 31-29)

Endicott College’s \#A.J. Witkofsky\# (Scotia, N.Y.) had a monster game with 25 kills and 10 total blocks as the Gulls defeated Emmanuel College, 3-1, in the final match of the day for the Blue and Green. \#James Sliva\# (Monroe, Conn.) and \#John Emery\# (Westford, Mass.) each added eight and seven kills apiece while \#Ben Foster\# (Penfield, N.Y.) handed out a game-high 50 assists and chipped in with five total blocks. \#Andrew Slocum\# (Burnt Hills, N.Y.) registered a game-high 12 digs and \#Jeremy Schlosser\# (Emmaus, Pa.) had seven of his own in the win.

Emmanuel had three players record double-digit kills as Curtis Abram (San Luis Obispo, Calif.), Michael Townsend (Beaverdam, Va.) and Tyson Rietz (Granite Bay, Calif.) registered 20, 16 and 12 kills each, respectively. Sean O’Connor (Hampstead, N.H.) and Taylor Lowe (Malibu, Calif.) combined to hand out 50 assists while Rietz and Townsend each added seven and six digs apiece. Tom McCaffrey (Massapequa) had four total blocks while Rietz recorded three total blocks.