Men's Volleyball Finishes Third At Gothic Knight Invitational
MEN'S VOLLEYBALL FINISHES THIRD AT GOTHIC KNIGHT INVITATIONAL
JERSEY CITY, NJ, Feb. 17, 2007 - Elms College junior outside hitter Byron Bledsoe (Lake Forest, CA) registered a combined 64 kills and freshman setter Ivan Andujar (Carolina, Puerto Rico) handed out 142 assists on the day to help lead the Blazers to a third place finish in the six-team Gothic Knight Invitational hosted by New Jersey City University on Saturday at the Moore Athletic Center.
The Blazers, who finished 2-1 on the day, won for the fifth time in their last seven matches to improve to 6-7 overall.
Elms College opened the day with a thrilling 3-2 (30-22, 31-33, 27-30, 30-25, 15-11) come-from-behind win over the City College of New York in the opening match of the day, but then fell to host New Jersey City University 3-1 (30-16, 30-26, 28-30, 30-16).
The Blazers, who had one 30-minute break following their first two matches, responded in impressive fashion as they grinded out a hard-fought 3-1 (23-30, 30-24, 30-27, 30-21) win against Brooklyn College in the tournament's third place match.
In the first match against City College of New York, Bledsoe tallied a match-high 30 kills and 15 digs, while Andujar handed off a five-game, program-record 70 assists.
Senior middle hitter Brian Cunniff (Pittsfield, MA) registered 15 kills, freshman outside hitter Mike Ryan (Ludlow, MA) added 14 kills and sophomore outside hitter Phil Joyce (Ashland, NH) contributed 10 kills in the thrilling five-game first match.
In the second match against New Jersey City University, Bledsoe tallied 16 kills, Cunniff registered 13 kills, and Andujar contributed 41 assists, as the Blazers fell in four games.
In the third match, Bledsoe recorded a match-high 18 kills, while Cunniff and Ryan added 11 kills apiece. Andujar tallied a match-high 31 assists, as the Blazers won in four games.
For his efforts, Bledsoe was named to the Gothic Knight All-Tournament Team.
The Blazers return to NECVA action on Wednesday, February 21 when they travel to Endicott College. Match-time is 7:00 p.m.