Men’s Volleyball Drops Two Vs. Nationally Ranked Stevens & Wentworth

BOSTON, Mass. – The Endicott men's volleyball team dropped a pair of matches against No. 3 Stevens and No. 5 Wentworth on Saturday evening at the Nelson Recreation Center. The Gulls fell to Stevens, 3-2, in a tightly-contested match by scores of 25-16, 23-25, 23-25, 25-16 and 15-10 to start the day, and 3-1 to Wentworth in the nightcap (18-25, 25-22, 25-20, 25-17).

MATCH ONE: No. 3 Stevens 3, Endicott 2 (25-16, 23-25, 23-25, 25-16, 15-10)

Trailing 1-0 in the match, Endicott worked its way through 22 tied scores and nine lead changes over the next two sets to take a 2-1 advantage in the match. Stevens bounced back down the stretch, however, behind a combined .643 hitting percentage to keep its undefeated season intact at 8-0 overall.

Freshmen led the way for the Gulls against Stevens as Bryn Lipton (Rockford, Ill.) registered 15 kills and Donovan Dey (Fairport, N.Y.) sent home 11 on 24 swings (.250). Daniel Toth (Glenwood, N.J.) aided the offense with nine putaways, while Chad Riorden (Fairport, N.Y.) and Tim Fieseler (Bridgewater, N.J.) added seven kills apiece.

Adam Dake (Victor, N.Y.) and Riorden split duties running the offense, as Dake finished with 26 and Riorden collected 24. Defensively, sophomore libero Ryan Healy (Fair Lawn, N.J.) notched a team-high 12 digs.

BEYOND THE BOX SCORE

• Lipton and Dey combined for 13 kills in sets two and three.
• Set three featured Endicott's most efficient offense (18 kills, .262 hitting percentage, eight student-athletes with at least one kill).

FOR THE FOES

• Thomas Burrell (Somerset, N.J.) had a team-high 13 kills on just 15 swings (.800).
• Dylan DeBoer (Vernon Hills, Ill.) and Gabe Shankweiler (Allentown, Pa.) both finished with 11 kills each.
• Jacob Patterson (Los Gatos, Calif.) dished out a match-high 38 assists.
• Five student-athletes on the roster had five or more digs in the win (Shankweiler, Patterson, DeBoer, Ian Bennett, Scott Russell).

MATCH TWO: No. 5 Wentworth 3, Endicott 1 (18-25, 25-22, 25-20, 25-17)

Coming off an exciting match against Stevens to start the day, the Gulls went on to use that momentum in match two versus Wentworth and took set one 25-18. The Leopards responded in set two, 25-22, despite playing through 12 tied scores and four lead changes, before finishing off Endicott over the final two sets.

Lipton put together another outstanding performance in match two behind 18 kills and a .500 hitting percentage. Dey chipped in with 11 kills (.381), and Toth and Troy Riorden (Fairport, N.Y.) each had eight.

C. Riorden concluded match two with 24 assists, and Dake wrapped up his day with 19. T. Riorden led all Gulls with 11 digs, while Healy popped up seven attacks.

BEYOND THE BOX SCORE

• The Gulls hit .310 or better in the first three sets of the match, and tallied 10 or more kills in all four sets.
• Lipton had six putaways in the first set, four in the second, three in the third, and five in the fourth.
• T. Riorden notched two or more digs in each set (3, 2, 2, 4).
• Healy went 54-for-54 on serve-receive, combined, over both matches.

FOR THE FOES

• Jake Reed (Arvada, Colo.) posted 18 kills on 32 swings (.469).
• Jon Roat (Macedon, N.Y.) had nine kills (.438), while Ollie Oshman (Pennington, N.J.) and Alex Potts (Niverville, N.Y.) tied for third on the team with six kills apiece.
• Collin Ritter (Feeding Hills, Mass.) set up 24 kills, and also registered six digs.

WHAT'S NEXT

Endicott (4-8) hosts Emmanuel on Wednesday, February 8 at 7 PM. Stevens (8-0) takes on Lancaster Bible and No. 12 Eastern Mennonite next Saturday at 11 AM and 1 PM, respectively. Wentworth (6-2) travels to Regis on Tuesday at 7 PM. 

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