Balanced Attack Leads Men’s Volleyball Past Elms, 3-1

BEVERLY, Mass. – The Endicott men's volleyball team remained unbeaten in New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) play on Tuesday night at MacDonald Gymnasium behind a balanced attack that produced a 3-1 win over Elms.

Sophomore Troy Riorden (Fairport, N.Y.) guided Endicott with his second double-double of the year via a season-high 15 kills (.323 hitting percentage) and 10 digs. Junior Daniel Toth (Glenwood, N.J.) also contributed 11 kills (.333 hitting percentage), while senior Alex Wasik (Milford, Mass.) notched his first double-double of the season on 10 kills and 10 digs. Senior setter Cameron Little (San Diego, Calif.) facilitated the offense with 47 assists (.475 set percentage).

After Endicott breezed to a 25-16 first-set victory, Elms challenged the Gulls over the next two sets  as both teams combined for 26 tied scores and 13 lead changes during that span. The Blazers took advantage of a match-low .111 hitting percentage by Endicott in set two for the slim 26-24 triumph, but the Gulls bounced right back in set three with a 28-26 win after recuperating from a pair of late deficits (23-22 & 26-25).

Toth led the charge with back-to-back kills to give Endicott a 24-23 lead in set three before Elms evened the score twice at 24-24 and 25-25, respectively. The Blazers then took a 26-25 advantage on an attacking error, but a kill from Riorden and two-straight hitting errors by Elms gave Endicott the win (28-26).

In set four, the Gulls broke up a 10-10 tie with a 4-1 run and never looked back to lock up the victory.

BEYOND THE BOX SCORE

• Endicott is 2-0 against Elms this season, and 27-3 all-time.
• The Gulls' balanced attacked also featured six kills apiece from John Osborne (Freehold, N.J.) and Jeremy Doski (Sandy Hook, Conn.). The Blue and Green are now 3-3 this year when five or more student-athletes have five-plus kills in a match.
• Endicott is 3-1 at home this season.

FOR THE FOES

• Gabriel Reis Levy (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) led all student-athletes with a match-high 16 kills to go along with 10 digs.
• Daniel Bondarovsky (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) added 11 kills, seven digs, and seven block assists, while Angel Castro (Carolina, Puerto Rico) had 10 kills and nine digs.
• John Dunphy (Farmington, Conn.) ran the attack with 38 assists.
• The Blazers recorded 17 block assists in the match, as five student-athletes recorded at least one block.
• Dervin Dimanche (Queens, N.Y.) was a major contributor in the blocks category as the junior middle hitter registered six block assists total in the loss.

WHAT'S NEXT

Endicott (10-8, 5-0 NECC) hosts Newbury this Saturday at 12 p.m. This weekend's match against the Nighthawks will serve as Senior Day for Chandler Tayek (Rolling Hills Estates, Calif.), Osborne, Little, Dan Seaver (Milford, Mass.), and Wasik. Elms (10-9, 2-4 NECC) returns to action on March 15 against MIT on the road at 6 p.m. 

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