Carthage/MSOE Invt’l: Gulls tripped up by nationally ranked Vassar and Carthage

Kenosha, 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 final day of competition features two difficult match ups against nationally-ranked #10 Vassar and #3 Carthage. 

The Gulls will be off until Wednesday, March 27^th when they host NECC opponent Lesley at MacDonald Gymnasium.  The match starts at 7:00 pm.

Match Three: Endicott 1, #10 Vassar 3 (25-13, 25-20, 21-25, 25-17)

Right side hitter Josh Anderson (La Canada, Calif.) and outside hitter John Osborne (Freehold, N.J.) totaled 13 and 10 kills, respectively, and Endicott defenders totaled 11.5 team blocks but the Gulls lost in four sets to #10 Vassar on day two of the Carthage/MSOE Invitational. 

Middle blocked Mike Coniglione (Glenville, N.Y.) assisted on six blocks and freshman middle Alex Wasik (Milford, Mass.) stuffed a total of five Vassar swings at the net, including two solo blocks.  Anderson was also a presence defensively with five block assists as was sophomore libero Kristian Catalan (Sudbury, Mass.) who had 10 digs. 

Vassar had three players with double digit kills including senior middle Matt Elgin (Farmington, N.Y.) who led all players with 15 kills on 23 swings with a .565 hitting percentage.  Luke Sobieraj (Chicago, Ill.) and Patrick Donohue (East Petersburg, Pa.) added 11 and 10 kills each as Vassar hit .278 as a team.  Sobieraj added 10 digs and Elgin had two solo and three assisted blocks in the win.

Gulls freshman setter Tyler Bacon (Cypress, Calif.) dished out 33 assists while Vassar's setter amassed 46 helpers. 

Endicott dropped to 2-6 all-time versus Vassar and made it back-to-back meetings in which they've taken a set from the  nationally-ranked Brewers.

Match Four: Endicott 0, #3 Carthage 3 (25-18, 25-18, 25-16)

Aaron Jessee (Okinawa, Japan), Carter Roche (Clifton Park, N.Y.), and Coniglione played well defensively with nine, seven, and seven digs, respectively, but Endicott was taken down in straight sets by the nation's #3 ranked team, Carthage, on the road. 

Senior right side Matt Devendorf (Glastonbury, Conn.) paced the Blue and Green with six kills and setters Roche and Bacon combined for 23 assists.  Endicott, however, was up against a tough Carthage blocking effort that totaled 12.0 team blocks including seven by JP Tulaka (Westmont, Ill.).

Carthage had their offensive effort led by Pat Barry (Skokie, Ill.) and Jeff Beach (St. Charles, Ill.) who had 15 and 11 kills apiece.  Beach had a .667 hitting percentage while Barry hit .333.  Tulaka also added nine kills in the win.  Carthage setter Connor Wexter (New Lenox, Ill.) dished out 38 assists in the win.