Men's Volleyball Downs No. 14 Endicott
MEN'S VOLLEYBALL UPENDS
NECVA NEW ENGLAND FRONTRUNNER ENDICOTT, 3-1
Junior setter Ivan Andujar (Carolina, Puerto
Rico) becomes first player in Elms College program-history to
record 3,000 assists
BEVERLY, MA, March 12, 2009 - Elms College junior setter Ivan Andujar (Carolina, Puerto Rico) handed out a match-high 44 assists, including the 3,000th of his collegiate career, and sophomore outside hitter Alberto Bravo (Toa Baja, Puerto Rico) pounded out a match-high 23 kills as the Blazers handed No. 14 Endicott its first conference loss of the season with a 3-1 (30-25, 20-30, 30-26, 30-26) win over the Gulls on Thursday night in Beverly.
Elms College won its fourth straight to improve to 13-11 overall and 8-3 in NECVA New England play.
Endicott, ranked 14th nationally in the latest Bison/AVCA Division III Top 15 Poll, dropped to 19-9 and 12-1 NECVA New England.
Freshman outside hitter Sequiel Sanchez Velez (San Sebastian, Puerto Rico) got the visitors started off in the first game as the freshman outside had six kills on nine attempts in the opening frame. Elms used a 9-4 run late in the opener, extending a slight 19-18 lead to a commanding 28-22 advantage, before closing out the game, 30-25.
The Gulls responded by rallying to a 30-20 victory in the second set, paced by a seven kill effort from A.J. Witkofsky (Scotia, N.Y.). Elms didn't help its own cause as the Blazers committed nine attack errors in the frame, allowing the Gulls to even the score at 1-1.
Sanchez Velez was once again impressive in the third, pounding home nine kills and contributing six digs in a 30-26 win. The two sides hit an identical .196 in the third, however Elms College had six total blocks compared to Endicott's three. Freshman middle hitter Vincent Cruz (Harwington, CT) had a big game at the visitors net, notching five assisted blocks in the third set alone.
It was much of the same for the Blazers in the fourth game, as Bravo finally put the Gulls away with a monsterous 11 kills on 15 attempts with just one error in the set. Elms College swung at .463 in the fourth, which also included five kills from freshman middle hitter Harry Sebastian (San Juan, Puerto Rico) in the 30-26 triumph.
Both Cruz and Sebastian had 12 kills apiece for the Blazers. Andujar became the first player in the program's seven-year history to record 3,000 career assists, as he now has a career total of 3,012. Senior libero Marc Carrasco (Tucson, AZ) also chipped in 20 digs for the guests.
Endicott got 16 kills and five blocks from Witkofsky and 13 kills from both John Emery (Westford, MA) and Zeke Kubisch (Bethlehem, NY). Ben Foster (Penfield, NY) had 53 assists and Dan Coleman (Millis, MA) notched nine digs in the setback.
Elms College returns to action on Wednesday, March 18th when it travels to Southern Vermont for a 7:00 p.m. NECVA New England match with the Mountaineers.
Endicott, who has already clinched the NECVA New England Division title, looks to end its two-game skid on March 24th with a conference showdown against Newbury.