Endicott College Rallies for 3-2 Win over Men’s Volleyball

CHICOPEE, Mass. – Elms College freshman outside hitter Jeff Vautrin (Chicopee, Mass.) downed a match-high 15 kills and added 13 digs, but Endicott College, trailing 2-1 in the match, earned two straight set victories, including a 16-14 win in the fifth frame to post a thrilling 3-2 (25-21, 19-25, 19-25, 27-25, 16-14) win over the Blazers in Saturday evening's New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) men's volleyball match at Picknelly Arena.

With the loss, Elms moves to 4-2 on the season, 0-1 in NECC action, while Endicott improves to 3-3 overall, 1-0 in conference play.

After falling behind 2-1 in the match, Endicott stemmed the tide in the fourth set. Following eight ties and three lead changes, a Vautrin kill gave Elms set and match point with the score set at 24-21. A service error by the Blazers, followed by a an assisted block from Tyler Bacon (Cypress, Calif.) and Mike Coniglione (Glenville, N.Y.) pulled the Gulls to within one at 24-23, and a Coniglione kill evened the frame at 24-24.

After an Elms attack error and a kill from Blazers' senior outside hitter Stephen Cameron (Newington, Conn.) brought the set to 25-25, Endicott lengthened the match using an Elms attacking error and a kill from Coniglione to force a decisive fifth set.

Endicott stormed out to an early 11-4 lead in the fifth frame before the Blazers answered with seven unanswered points highlighted by a pair of kills from Cameron and one from junior middle hitter Bryson Rainey (Brookline, Mass.), as well as four Gulls' miscues to level the set at 11-11.

A series of exchanged points set the score at 14-14 before a Blazers' mishit coupled with a kill from Endicott's Matt Devendorf (Glastonbury, Conn.) allowed the Gulls to seal their exciting come-from-behind victory.

Elms' junior setters Daniel Lebron (San Juan, Puerto Rico) (28 assists) and Kevin Welsh (Wilbraham, Mass.) (27 assists) were superb directing the Blazer's offense, while Vautrin, sophomore middle hitter Angel Castro (Carolina, Puerto Rico) and Cameron finished with 15, 14 and 13 kills respectively.

As a team, Elms hit .253 for the match as Rainey and freshman outside hitter Aleksandr Kuzmenko (Chicopee, Mass.) totaled eight kills apiece, while junior opposite hitter Kordel Latimer (Lynn, Mass.) chipped in six kills of his own.

Lebron led five players in double figures for digs with a match-best 14, followed by 13 each from Cameron and Vautrin and 12 apiece from Rainey and Castro. Rainey and Kuzmenko added four assisted blocks each, while Castro dished out eight helpers.

Travis Netherton (Waukegan, Ill.) paced Endicott with a team-best 13 kills, while Coniglione floored 10 in the losing effort. Bacon dished out 38 assists and recorded 12 digs  and assisted on four blocks, while John Osborne (Freehold, N.J.) notched 11 digs and joined Josh Anderson (La Canada, Calif.) with seven kills.

The Gulls were impressive at the net blocking, especially in the final set, totaling two solo blocks and 18 assisted blocks, led by six assisted from Coniglione. Anderson and Bacon added three assisted stuffs each to help Endicott complete the win.

Elms returns to non-conference play on Tuesday, Feb. 5 when it travels to Bard College for a 7:00 p.m. match.