No. 14 Men’s Volleyball Blanks Illinois Tech, 3-0

BEVERLY, Mass. – The No. 14 nationally ranked Endicott men's volleyball team defeated Illinois Tech in straight sets, 3-0, by scores of 25-22, 25-14, and 25-21 in non-conference action on Friday night at MacDonald Gymnasium.

For the third straight match, Donovan Dey (Fairport, N.Y.) paced the offense in kills, this time with 11 putaways on 23 swings (.348).

The Gulls also saw Bryn Lipton (Rockford, Ill.) contributed nine kills (.533), while Gabe Felicetti (Charlestown, R.I.) and Erich Roman (Glastonbury, Conn.) each had six apiece.

Meanwhile, Chad Riorden (Fairport, N.Y.) and Gabe DeBenedetto (Rockford, Ill.) facilitated the attack with 21 assists (.553, 1-2 sets) and 10 assists (.370, 3rd set), respectively.

Tonight's match featured 25 ties and 10 lead changes, but only the first and third sets were truthfully contested.

BEYOND THE BOX SCORE

• Tonight's match was the first-ever meeting between the two programs.
• In the first set, Endicott broke away from a 22-22 tie as Roman connected for a kill and then immediately aced the Hawks for the next point to go up 24-22.
• From there, Lipton ended the first set on Roman's next serve with his sixth and final kill of the opener (6K-1E-9TA).
• After the second set featured no ties and zero lead changes, both teams battled in the third to the tune of 11 ties and six lead changes before the Gulls clinched the sweep over Illinois Tech.
• Tied 15-15 in the third set, Endicott produced five kills (two from Felicetti) and one block and also capitalized on four errors from the Hawks to take the set.
• Aidan McManaman (Bellerose Village, N.Y.) put together an impressive third set as the sophomore middle had two kills, one dig, and two block assists.
• The Gulls have won five matches in a row.
• Endicott is 4-0 at home this season.

WHAT'S NEXT

No. 14 Endicott (7-2) travels to Dean College on Saturday, February 15 for its New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) season opener at 3 PM. Illinois Tech (1-4) takes on Endicott's rival, Elms College, and MIT tomorrow at 2:30 PM and 5:00 PM, respectively, on the campus of MIT (Cambridge, Mass.). 

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(Photo Credit - David Le '10)