Endicott and Daniel Webster to Meet in NECC Championship on Saturday

BEVERLY, Mass. – On Saturday, April 12^th, the 2014 New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) Men's Volleyball Championship will be decided between top-seeded Endicott (16-13) and #2 seed Daniel Webster (13-13) after both the Gulls and the Eagles won their semifinal matches on Friday evening in Endicott's MacDonald Gymnasium.

Endicott, the reigning NECC champions, will be taking on a Daniel Webster squad they have faced three times already this season. The Blue and Green have won all three matches, two in straight sets and one in five sets. Two out of the three matches have been played on Endicott's home court. The 2014 NECC Championship is set to start at 4:00 pm on Saturday.

Semifinal One: #1 Endicott 3, #4 Regis (Mass.) 0 (25-21, 25-9, 25-12)

Behind a team-high 11 kills from sophomore outside John Osborne (Freehold, N.J.) and a combined .414 hitting percentage from middle blockers Mike Coniglione (Glenville, N.Y.) and Daniel Toth (Vernon, N.J.), the Gulls were able to overcome a shaky first set in which they hit just .128 as a team to record .609 and .370 attack percentages in sets two and three.

Osborne put up big numbers defensively as well with eight digs and three total blocks, including a solo stuff at the net. Joining Osborne on the outside was senior Brennan Lowe (Malibu, Calif.) who had six kills

Toth had a standout game in a starting role, striking eight kills on 15 swings with just one error while factoring in defensively with four block assists. Coniglione added seven kills and a block assist while both players served up an ace as well.

Distributing the attack for Endicott was sophomore setter Tyler Bacon (Cypress, Calif.) who had 33 assists and added two kills and eight digs to his stat line.

For the Pride (12-11), freshman outside Sean Bisnett (Oxnard, Calif.) had a match-high 12 kills with two digs, a solo block, and an ace. Regis setter Joe Hanrahan (Coventry, R.I.) had 18 assists and four digs while freshman Jon Fuentes (Downey, Calif.) contributed with 11 digs. Sophomore middle Joe Coye (Plaistow, N.H.) added six digs and two kills in the semifinal loss.

Semifinal Two: #2 Daniel Webster 3, #3 Southern Vermont 2 (25-21, 16-25, 22-25, 25-21, 15-12)

In a back-and-forth match between Daniel Webster (13-13) and Southern Vermont (13-13) to determine the other NECC finalist, the Mountaineers rallied after a first set loss to come within one set of advancing but the Eagles fought back to tie the match and win it in the fifth.

Daniel Webster returns to the NECC Championship for the first time since the 2010 season as they carried offensively by senior outside Joe Walz (East Longmeadow, Mass.) and junior middle Joel Hendrix (Kane'ohe, Hawaii) who combined for 43 kills and a .370 hitting percentage while sophomore setter Ariel Frias (Lawrence, Mass.) dished out 55 assists with 12 digs. Defensively, sophomore Ryan Howdeshell (Fairbanks, Alaska) matched Mountaineers libero Florentino Escovedo (Fresno, Calif.) with a match-high 19 digs.

For Southern Vermont, senior middle Anthony Barahona (Eagle Rock, Calif.) had a team-high 25 kills, 10 digs, and five total blocks, including two solo blocks, to lead the Mountaineers in the NECC Semifinals. Junior outside Keven Walley (Pico Rivera, Calif.) struck 14 kills and junior outside Scott Fitzgerald (Fort Edward, N.Y.) added 11 kills with a team-high .321 hitting percentage in the loss. Setter Anthony Ayala (Pico Rivera, Calif.) found his teammates for 50 assists while factoring in defensively with six digs.

With the match tied 2-2 heading into the fifth, Southern Vermont jumped out to a 3-1 advantage after a kill by Fitzgerald. Daniel Webster battled back to tie the match 4-4 as Walz powered two kills. The Mountaineers rattled off four straight points, taking advantage of their opponent's miscues to own an 8-4 advantage as the two teams switched sides.

Daniel Webster fired right back with four straight points of their own to knot the score at 8-8 as Hendrix got the rally going with a kill and Southern Vermont committed three straight errors. The two teams went back-and-forth and with score at 11-10 Southern Vermont in the fifth, Walz dominating the home stretch for Daniel Webster by recording kills on four of the next five points to give the Eagles a 14-12 lead. Eagles sophomore middle Jose Vargas (Lawrence, Mass.), who had 13 kills in the match, delivered the final point for Daniel Webster with a kill to end the fifth set 15-12.