Men's Volleyball Sweeps NECC Rival Elms to Leap Back Atop Conference Standings

CHICOPEE, Mass.-  The Endicott men's volleyball team traveled west looking to get back on the winning track and the team was able to do just that as they swept NECC rival Elms in impressive fashion on Wednesday night.  Endicott was able to sweep Elms by scores of 25-8, 25-16 and 25-16 to also sweep the regular season series.  The win elevates the Gulls to 6-1 in NECC play and 11-8 overall as the Blazers fall to 3-3 and 5-12 overall.  

Usually a middle-driven offense, the Gulls received dominant play from their pin hitters en route to a .372 hitting percentage as a team compared to just -.030 for the Blazers. Senior Brennan Lowe (Malibu, Calif.) matched his career high of 12 kills to lead the Gulls while sophomore John Osborne (Freehold, N.J.) was close on his heels with 11 of his own.  Lowe also led the team with a .647 clip as he committed just one attack error on 17 swings while Osborne was able to hit at a .450 clip as he recorded just two errors on his 20 attempts.  Sophomore Tyler Bacon (Cypress, Calif.) recorded 31 assists as the Gulls totaled 40 kills and committed just 11 errors on 78 swings on the evening.

The Gulls also dominated the defensive side of the ball as they notched 19 assist blocks (9.5 total) and 25 digs.  Those totals compared to four blocks and 19 digs for Elms.  Leading the defensive charge at the net were seniors Mike Coniglione (Glenville, N.Y.), Lowe and Travis Netherton (Waukegan, Ill.) as each recorded five, four and three assist blocks respectively.  Three other players recorded two, including Osborne, Bacon and Josh Anderson (La Canada, Calif.).  In the back row, Osborne led the match and the Gulls with nine digs as Aaron Jessee (Okinawa, Japan) was just behind him with eight of his own to improve his NECC best digs/set average to 2.90.  Endicott also controlled the flow of the match from the service line more so than the box score depicted as the team collected six aces but kept the Blazers out of system for the majority of the evening.

The Blazers were led by senior Bryson Rainey (Brighton, Mass.) who finished with eight kills, well below his average of 4.22/set.  He also was held to a .227 clip and is now averaging .340 for the season.  Endicott was able to control the other Elms weapons as junior Angel Castro (Carolina, Puerto Rico) and Kordell Latimer (Lynn, Mass.) were held to four and three kills respectively while both were held to negative hitting percentages.  Setter Kevin Welsh (Wilbraham, Mass.) did all he could to run the offense as he paced the Blazer attack with 16 assists.  

Endicott has a quick turn around as they return to NECC play tomorrow night when they take on Regis College in Weston, Mass.  Elms returns to action on Saturday for a pair of pivotal NECC matches as they play host to both Lesley and Daniel Webster.