Carthage/MSOE Invt’l: Endicott splits day one matches with MSOE and Fontbonne

MILWAUKEE, Wis. – The Endicott men's volleyball team has traveled out to Wisconsin to take on some of the nation's top competition at the Carthage/Milwaukee School of Engineering (MSOE) Invitational.  The Gulls are scheduled to take on MSOE and Fontbonne on Saturday before taking on #10 Vassar and #3 Carthage on Sunday.

Match One: Endicott 1, MSOE 3 (18-25, 23-25, 27-25, 25-20)

Seventeen kills by junior right side Josh Anderson (La Canada, Calif.) and another 10 from senior Matt Devendorf (Glastonbury, Conn.) paced the Gulls against MSOE in the first match of the weekend, a 3-1 loss on MSOE's home court. 

The Gulls held a lead late in each set, but the host Raiders were able to pull off close set victories to win in four. 

Solid defensive efforts by defensive specialist Kristian Catalan (Sudbury, Mass.) and John Osborne (Freehold, N.J.), who combined for 14 digs, and four blocks by freshman middle Alex Wasik (Milford, Mass.) kept the Blue and Green alive in this match.  Wasik added five kills offensively and Osborne, as well as Aaron Jessee (Okinawa, Japan), turned in a perfect match on serve-receive with zero reception errors on 64 combined attempts. 

Setter Carter Roche (Clifton Park, N.Y.) totaled 26 assists in the loss with another eight coming from freshman Tyler Bacon (Cypress, Calif.)

Match Two: Endicott 3, Fontbonne 0 (25-20, 25-16, 25-14)

The Gulls responded with a straight set win over Fontbonne to finish day one of invitational with a 1-1 record.  The Gulls go into day two with a 16-6 overall record and will face off against two tough nationally ranked opponents in #10 Vassar and #3 Carthage on Sunday afternoon. 

Endicott's usual suspects factored into their win over Fontbonne as Osborne and Anderson totaled eight and six kills respectively, with Roche dishing out 34 helpers with nine digs in the win. 

It was Endicott's bench that showed major contributions against the Griffins.  Sophomore outside hitter Billy Mullen (Weymouth, Mass.) finished second on the team with seven kills on 15 attempts with a .267 hitting percentage while freshman outside hitter Dan Seaver (Milford, Mass.) struck four kills on seven attempts, without an error, in a convincing third set win for the Gulls.

Middles Mike Coniglione (Glenville, N.Y.), Brandon Chadwick (Chelmsford, Mass.), and Wasik also had solid matches as each added a few kills. 

Endicott also managed to compiling a perfect serve-receive percentage with zero reception errors on 43 attempts.  Osborne was a perfect 27-for-27 while Jessee and sophomore Stewart Allendorph (Delmar, N.Y.) added six and five serve receives.