NCAA TOURNAMENT: No. 19 Men's Volleyball Blanks Lancaster Bible, 3-0

NCAA PRESS CONFERENCE

HOBOKEN, N.J. — The No. 19 Endicott men's volleyball team defeated Lancaster Bible, 3-0, by scores of 25-14, 26-24, and 25-17 in the NCAA Tournament First Round on Thursday night at Canavan Arena on the campus of Stevens.

Jake Laborde (Brookline, N.H.) and Aidan Iacovelli (South Windsor, Conn.) led the way for the Gulls with 12 and 11 kills apiece.

Labrode hit .556 in the match in addition to two service aces, three digs, a block solo, and three block assists.

Meanwhile, Aaron Bennett (Haverhill, Mass.) finished with seven putaways on 14 attacks (.500). In the middle Jackson Gray (Glenmont, N.Y.) and Thomas Matchett (North Smithfield, R.I.) added five and two kills each.

As a team, the Gulls hit .386 on the evening — fueled by a match-high 33-assist effort from Matty Tiernan (Bradford, R.I.). Defensively, Dan Battista (Bethlehem, N.Y.) finished with 11 digs to lead both teams.

Today's match featured 13 ties (3-10-0) and five lead changes (0-5-0).

BEYOND THE BOX SCORE

• First all-time meeting between the two programs.
• First NCAA Tournament win for Endicott since 2019.
• The Gulls were a perfect 15-15 in sideout during the first set and didnt allow Lancaster Bible to win consecutive points until the second set.
• Laborde now has double-digit kills in seven consecutive matches.
• Fifth match this season Bennett has had a .500 hitting percentage or better.
• The .386 hitting percentage is the team's fourth highest percentage in a match this season.

WHAT'S NEXT

No. 19 Endicott (23-3) advances to the next round of the NCAA Tournament where they will take on No. 5 Cal Lutheran tomorrow, Friday, April 17 at 6:30 PM. Lancaster Bible's season comes to a close with a final record of 17-12 overall. 

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(Photo Credit - Dave Janosz)