SAINTS FALL TO ENDICOTT IN 1ST ROUND NECVA HEARTBREAKER
April 9, 2010
HYANNIS, Mass. - The 12th-seeded Emmanuel College Men's Volleyball Team took 5th-seeded Endicott College into five sets, before dropping a heartbreaking 3-2 decision in the opening round of the North East Collegiate Volleyball Association (NECVA) Tournament. The 16-team tournament, hosted by the Hyannis Youth and Community Center, featured matches played simultaneously on dual courts. Emmanuel (27-11) and Endicott (27-7) traded sets, with the Saints taking the opener, 30-25. Endicott bounced back to win the second, 30-23. The Saints won the third, 30-27, and the Gulls matched with a 30-22 win in the fourth. Endicott won the match with a 16-14 decision in the fifth set thriller.
The Saints took an early 9-3 lead in set one, backed by several kills from Curtis Abram (San Luis Obispo, Calif.). Thomas McCaffrey (Massapequa, N.Y.) put a few away, before Matt Salvi (Trumbull, Conn.) and Cam Todd (Los Angeles, Calif.) combined for a block to bring the spread to 19-15. The Saints held a solid five-point lead throughout the set and kicked off the match with a 30-25 set win.
Endicott charged out to an 11-8 lead in the second set and forced an Emmanuel timeout. Out of the break, the Saints bounced back and forged a 13-13 tie. However, Emmanuel was never able to mount any significant momentum in the set and the Gulls escaped with a 30-24 win.
The Saints rebounded in set three and posted an early four-point lead at 13-9. Following a Gulls timeout, Endicott came back and knotted the game at 17-all. Ensuing ties occurred at 19-all and 20-all. A huge block by Todd and a kill by Keoni Rabaino (Tucson, Ariz.) were part of a 4-0 Emmanuel-run to go up, 24-20. Two Endicott points and consecutive Abram kills pushed it to 26-22. The Gulls fought back, but big swings by Todd and Tyson Rietz (Granite Bay, Calif.) put the game away for the Saints at 30-27.
The Gulls found themselves up 14-11 in the fourth. They extended the lead to four points and forced an Emmanuel timeout at 16-12. Endicott then went up six points and the Saints called for their second timeout with the spread at 20-14. The Gulls tacked on three more points, before the Saints scored again on a Salvi kill to bring the score to 23-15. Endicott was strong throughout the fourth set and captured a solid 30-22 win, forcing a deciding fifth set.
The beginning stages of the fifth game featured strong blocking and incredible defensive plays by the Saints. Endicott held an 8-7 edge at the switch, but Emmanuel managed to tie things up at 9-all. Ties occurred again at 10-10 and 11-11, before the Gulls went up 13-12 and forced a Saints timeout. Unforced errors plagued Emmanuel down the stretch and Endicott capitalized, taking a 16-14 victory and a 3-2 match win.
A.J. Witkofsky led the Gulls, hitting .358 with 27 kills, 8 digs and 3 blocks. Zeke Kubisch added 17 kills and 7 digs, while John Emery chipped in with 14 kills and 3 blocks. Gulls setter Ben Foster dished out 68 assists and David Lowe gathered 13 digs for the victors.
Abram led Emmanuel with a match-high 32 kills, while hitting .411 for the match. Rietz played a solid match with a double-double of 18 kills and 12 digs, to go along with 3 blocks. McCaffrey hit .480 with 14 kills and a match-high 5 blocks. Senior libero Michael Townsend (Beaverdam, Va.) recorded 17 digs and setters Taylor Lowe (Malibu, Calif.) and Nick Updike combined to dish out 72 assists for the Saints.