Men’s Volleyball Tops Bard College & No. 13 Nationally Ranked MIT

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – The Endicott men's volleyball team earned victories in both of its matches against Bard College and host MIT on Saturday afternoon at the Rockwell Cage. Endicott defeated Bard, 3-0, by scores of 25-17, 25-14, and 25-22 in their first match of the day, and turned away MIT in a five-set thriller by scores of 25-16, 28-26, 10-25, 26-28, and 16-14 in the nightcap of the twinbill.

MATCH ONE: Endicott 3, Bard 0 (25-17, 25-14, 25-22)

The Gulls limited Bard (0-6) to its second worst hitting percentage this season to bump their record to 2-4 overall on the year.

Sophomore opposite Troy Riorden (Fairport, N.Y.) guided Endicott with a team-high eight kills, four digs, two assists, and one service ace. Ryan Sutherland (Fairport, N.Y.) added six kills (.308 hitting percentage) and four block assists, while Jacob Newman (Chester, N.H.) notched five kills in his first collegiate match to round out the list of highlights for the Blue and Green.

BEYOND THE BOX SCORE

• Endicott is 3-0 in the all-time series against Bard, which began in 2005.
• The Gulls have only dropped one set in the three meetings between the two programs.

FOR THE FOES

• Senior outside hitter Jesse Small (Brookline, Mass.) paced all student-athletes with nine kills. Small also recorded six digs and one service ace in the loss.
• Small has led the Raptors in kills in the last four matches.
• Stefan Briggs (San Francisco, Calif.) contributed six kills and one block assist.

MATCH TWO: Endicott 3, No. 13 MIT 2 (25-16, 28-26, 10-25, 26-28, 16-14)

In a match that featured 45 tie scores and 14 lead changes, Endicott came out on top behind several strong performances.

John Osborne (Freehold, N.J.) was instrumental in the win as the senior outside notched a season-high 18 kills to go along with seven digs, four block assists, and one block solo. Riorden nearly produced a double-double with 15 kills (.355 hitting percentage) and eight digs, while Daniel Toth (Glenwood, N.J.) collected 12 kills, four digs, three block assists, and one solo block.

Ryan Sutherland (Fairport, N.Y.) turned in an all-around effort to aid the Gulls in the victory by compiling seven kills (400 hitting percentage), five digs, eight block assists, one block solo, and a service ace. Senior setter Cameron Little (San Diego, Calif.) facilitated the offense with a season-high 49 assists in addition to his nine digs and two block assists.

In the fifth set, Endicott erased an early 5-4 deficit with a 6-2 run that was highlighted by a pair of kills from Riorden and a service ace via freshman Jeremy Doski (Sandy Hook, Conn.). MIT eventually evened the score at 14-14, but Sutherland took over when it counted most using a kill and a service ace to win the match for the Gulls.

BEYOND THE BOX SCORE

• MIT holds a 17-12 advantage over Endicott in the all-time series, which dates back to 2002.
• Endicott registered a season-high .684 hitting percentage (min. 15 attempts) in set one (W, 25-16).
• The Gulls' 20 kills in set two was also a season-high for a set this year.
• Chandler Tayek (Rolling Hills Estates, Calif.) had 10 digs in the win for the Gulls, his second double-digit dig effort this season.

FOR THE FOES

• Martin Krasuski (Aurora, Ill.) tallied a season-high and game-high 26 kills (.408 hitting percentage) in the loss.
• Matt Reilly (Manhattan Beach, Calif.) contributed 20 kills (.326 hitting percentage), three digs and three block assists.
• Yize Dong (Moraga, Calif.) had a game-high 56 assists to along with seven digs, three block assists, and two service aces.
• Defensively, Brendan Chang (Laytonsville, Md.) and Suyash Fulay (Wexford, Pa.) recorded 17 and 15 digs, respectively.

WHAT'S NEXT

Endicott (3-4) hosts Wentworth on Wednesday, February 3 in a non-conference match at 7 p.m. 

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