Blazers Can't Overcome No. 14 Endicott

Blazers Can't Overcome No. 14 Endicott

CHICOPEE, Mass. – The Elms College men's volleyball team came up just short against No. 14 Endicott College on Tuesday night, falling 3-1 by scores of 25-17, 25-21, 23-25 and 25-23.

The Blazers (13-6, 5-2 New England Collegiate Conference) struggled to slow down the hard-hitting Endicott (18-1, 9-0 NECC) offense, as the Gulls hit .359 in the match after out-hitting Elms .500-.091 in the opening set.

Trailing 2-0 in the match, Elms held a 22-19 advantage late in the third before the Gulls got a kill and back-to-back aces to tie the set at 22-22. Moments later with the set tied 23-23, Blazer senior Gabe Levy came up big, first with a kill to give Elms a 24-23 lead then joining with classmate Kahlil Peters with a block assist to seal the 25-23 victory to force a fourth set.

Endicott held a slim 22-20 lead and the momentum late in the fourth set before the Blazers made one last charge. A kill from Jeremy Torres followed by an attack error from Endicott's Donovan Dey tied the set at 22-22. After the teams exchanged points, it was Endicott that got the final push, closing out the match with a block to pick up the 25-23 win and extend their winning streak to 11 matches.

Elms freshman Jovanny Torres contributed a team-high 18 kills and .455 hitting percentage while adding five assists, six digs and two blocks. Jeremy Torres added 13 kills and five digs and John Dunphy finished with 28 assists for the Blazers. The Blazers hit .242 for the match and were out-dug 40-32.

Endicott's Bryn Lipton had a match-high 19 kills while Jeremy Doski had 10 kills with a .529 hitting percentage and Seth Braquet had 10 kills while hitting .467. Dey finished with 11 kills for the Gulls, and Adam Date dealt 36 assists in the contest.

Tuesday's match was Senior Night for five Blazer seniors. Elms will host Newbury on March 29 and visit Eastern Nazarene on March 31. Endicott will host No. 1 Springfield College tomorrow.