Rivier Holds On to #1 Seed in NECVA Tournament

Hyannis, MA: The North East Collegiate Volleyball Association Championship Tournament commenced today at the Hyannis Youth and Community Center in Hyannis, Massachusetts, proudly presented by NECVA and the ECAC. The #1 seeded Raiders of Rivier College earned a three game sweep while Nazareth pulled out a five game win over the Bearcats of Baruch for the first upset of the night. D’Youville, seeded #14, earned a five game win over the #3 seeded Vassar and before the #4 seeded Crimson Eagles of PBU took home a 3-0 win over #16 NJCU. #5 Endicott defeated #12 Emmanuel, 3-2, and MIT at #6, earned a sweep over #11 Newbury to advance into tomorrow’s match-ups. In the final two matches of the night, #8 Medaille defeated #9 New Paltz, 3-2 and the #7 Roadrunners of Ramapo College swept #10 Stevens, 3-0.

Match 1: #1 Rivier defeated #16 NJCU, 3-0 (30-15, 30-21, 30-20)
The Raiders of Rivier College, seeded #1 in the tournament, swept the Gothic Knights of New Jersey City University today in the opening match to improve to 29-8 overall, advancing to tomorrow’s match-up with Medaille/SUNY New Paltz. Jared Andreozzi (Barrington, RI) led the team hitting .692 with 19 kills on 26 attempts and only one error. The team combined for 55 kills with only six errors on 97 attempts (.505), while the Gothic Knights hit .080 with 35 kills and 26 errors on 113 attempts. Zach Hansen (Shelton, CT) dished out a team high 40 assists and led the tea’s defense with 13 digs for the double-double. Matt Ferreira (North Providence, RI) added 11 kills of his own and Taylor Lindner (Cheshire, CT) added to the team’s offensive attack with nine. Lindner recorded five total blocks in the win. Jose Matta (Puerto Rico) led the Gothic Knights with 11 kills and ten digs for a double-double of his own while Jorge Rodriguez (Cuba) assisted on 16 points. Austin Bryant (Virginia Beach, VA) chipped in nine kills and six digs.

Match 2: #15 Nazareth defeated #2 Baruch - (23-30, 30-27, 30-25, 33-35, 15-12)
The Golden Flyers of Nazareth College upset the #2 seeded Bearcats of Baruch in a five-set match-up to improve to 16-14 overall. With the victory Nazareth moves on to face off with Ramapo/Stevens tomorrow at 11am. Nazareth combined for 71 kills hitting .222 with 34 errors on 167 attempts. Ellis Walsh (Penfield, NY) led the team with 18 kills and Billy Gimello (Hauppauge, NY) chipped in 14 of his own, while EJ Wells-Spicer (Phelps, NY) led the defense with seven digs. Walsh and Connor Ecklund (Harrisburg, PA) put away five blocks each and Will Siwy (Derby, NY) led the way with six of his own. Baruch fell short shot on hitting putting away 64 kills on 142 attempts with 35 errors (.204), wrapping up the year at 32-5 overall. Sequiel Sanchez (Puerto Rico) and Santos Rivera (Puerto Rico) led the offense with 18 and 17 kills respectively while Sanchez picked up 14 digs on defense. Pablo Oliveira (Brazil) chipped in 12 digs and Eryk Kowalski (Poland) led the team with seven total blocks, two solo.

Match 3: #14 D’Youville defeated #3 Vassar, 3-1 (19-30, 30-28, 30-26, 30-28)
The second upset of the tournament came in match three when the Spartans of D’Youville College defeated Vassar College in four sets. Chris Temple (Highwood, IL) put away a team-high 20 kills for the Spartans and Jeremy Sajdak (Rochester, NY) added 16. Brett Peters chipped in 15 of his own. The trio combined for 51 of the team’s 64 total kills. D’Youville hit .181 in the match, a slight advantage over Vassar who hit .183 with 56 total kills on 142 attempts with 30 errors. Rob Dykeman (Perrineville, NJ) picked up 12 digs and JJ Senozetnik (Eden, NY) added 11, while Peters recorded a team high six blocks. Phil Tully (Huntington Station, NY) led Vassar with 20 kills and Evan Fredericksen (Menlo Park, CA) chipped in 18 on offense, while Christian La Du (Westhampton, NY) tallying 22 digs in the loss. D’Youville advances to tomorrow’s match-up and will take on MIT.

Match 4: #4 Philadelphia Biblical defeated #13 Hunter, 3-0 (30-23, 32-30, 30-18)
PBU got a clean sweep over Hunter, 3-0, behind 22 kills from Justin Brubaker (Telford, PA), to advance to play Endicott tomorrow at 1pm. Brubaker hit .318 while the team went 51-116 with 21 errors hitting .259 overall. Brubaker picked up seven digs and four blocks while Noah Prickett (Yardley, PA) led the defense with ten digs of his own. Drew Dillon (Mount Joy, PA) dished out 45 assists and Leandro Dueck (Lititz, PA) and Jefferson Stauffer (Columbia, PA) tallied eight each. Eric Barty (Jamaica, NY) led the Hawks with 12 kills and Marcin Polak (Brooklyn, NY) chipped in nine hitting 9-17 with only two errors (.412). Zacarias Ripoll-Cid (DR) assisted on 31 points and led the defense with nine digs. Polak recorded nine digs on the night.

Match 5: #5 Endicott defeated #12 Emmanuel, 3-2 (25-30, 30-23, 27-30, 30-22, 16-14)
Endicott College advances into tomorrow to face off with the Crimson Eagles of PBU, after defeating Emmanuel College in five sets in the fifth match of the 2010 Championship. AJ Witkofsky (Scotia, NY) recorded 27 kills and hit .358, leading his team to their 27th win of the year (27-7). Emmanuel falls to 26-11 overall, wrapping up the 2010 season. Zeke Kubisch (Bethlehem, NY) chipped in 17 kills and John Emery (Westford, MA) added 14, while Ben Foster (Penfield, NY) contributed 68 assists to the win. David Lowe (Burndt Hills, NY) led the defense with 13 digs and James Silva (Monroe, CT) chipped in five blocks. Endicott hit .302 as a team while Emmanuel went 82-176 with 30 errors hitting .295. Endicott combined for 76 kills on the night. Emmanuel’s Curtis Abram (San Luis Obisop, CA) posted a team-high 32 kills with only nine errors on 56 attempts hitting .411. Tyson Rietz (Granite Bay, CA) tallied 18 kills and Thomas McCaffrey (Massapequa, NY) added 14 while Nick Updike (Manhattan Beach, CA) assisted on 39 points. Michael Townsend (Beaverdam, VA) led the defense with 17 digs.

Match 6: #6 MIT defeated #11 Newbury, 3-0 (30-23, 30-15, 30-22)
MIT defeated Newbury in three straight sets behind 17 kills and six service aces from Matt Hohenberger (St. Louis, MO). MIT combined hitting .302 with 48 kills on 96 attempts with 19 errors while Newbury went 30-88 with 24 hitting errors (.068). Tim Lee (Natick, MA) dished out 41 assists and Eric Reuland (Laguna Niguel, CA) led the team’s defense with eight digs. David Thomas (Carlsbad, CA) contributed nine kills to the win and Patrick Vatterott (St. Louis, MO) chipped in eight of his own. Vatterott earned four blocks in the win. For the Night Hawks, Mark Thomas (Wilbraham, MA) led the team with eight kills and Josh Aberly (Palatine, IL) and James Beck (Havre De Grace, MD) each added six, while Matt Talamantes (Los Angeles, CA) contributed 27 assists on the night. The team’s defense was with six digs from Aberly and three blocks each from Danny Kim (Plainview, NY) and Thomas. MIT faces off with D’Youville College tomorrow at 1pm.

Match 7: #7 Ramapo defeated #10 Stevens, 3-0 (30-25, 30-27, 30-26)
The Roadrunners came out with a 3-0 sweep over NECVA Metro Rival, Stevens Institute of Technology tonight to advance to tomorrow’s match-up verse #15 Nazareth College at 11am. Josh Castillo (Garfield, NJ) led the Roadrunners with 12 kills while the trio of Paul Konopacki (Monroe Twp., NJ), Kevin Froehlich (Ringwood, NJ), and Steven Vahalla (Bloomfield, NJ) each put away eight kills apiece. The team combined for 48 kills hitting .283 with 16 errors on 113 attempts. Matt Scott (Edison, NJ) dished out 40 assists while Kurt Backlund (Old Bridge, NJ) led the defense with 16 digs. Scott added ten digs to the mix and Elvis Cabrera (Clifton, NJ) put down five blocks. For the Ducks, SteFan PremDas (Hollywood, FL) and Jonathan Landis (Sellersville, PA) recorded 15 and 13 kills respectively while Timothy Karl (Williamsville, NY) added eight of his own. Brandt Grobeis (Livingston, NJ) contributed 45 assists and Aaron Ostrovsky (Simi Valley, CA) led the defense with 13 digs. The team hit 50-136 with 21 errors, (.213).

Match 8: #8 Medaille defeated #9 SUNY New Paltz, 3-2 (31-29, 23-30, 21-30, 30-24, 15-11)
Medaille wrapped up day one with a 3-2 victory over New Paltz, advancing to play the #1 seeded Raiders of Rivier College tomorrow at 11am. Four Mavericks recorded double digit kills including 15 from Andrew Nawotka (Grand Island, NY), 12 from Ryan Murdie (Kenmore, NY), and ten each from Nick Johnson (Buffalo, NY) and Erin Kelly (Clifton Springs, NY). Ryan Murdie (Kenmore, NY) chipped in 50 assists and Dan Jackosn (Hamburg, NY) led the team with 11 digs while Johnson and Nawotka each added five blocks on the night. Medaille hit .271 as a team while the Hawks of New Paltz hit 79-155 with 25 errors hitting .348. Jake Moore (Cortlandt Manor, NY) led the Hawks with 28 kills and Kevin Stross (Port Washington, NY) added 17 kills while Andrew Cassius (Brooklyn, NY) dished out 70 assists. Mike Fink (Rochester, NY) led the team’s defense with 15 digs.

*Article Courtesy of NECVA Communications