CAMBRIDGE, Mass. (April 5, 2009) – Senior outside hitter Joe Trinsey was relentless on Sunday afternoon as he helped to lift the sixth-ranked Stevens Institute of Technology men's volleyball team to a 3-1 win over No. 5 Nazareth College in the championship round of the 2009 North East Collegiate Volleyball Association Tournament. The Ducks have claimed their fourth NECVA title and have advanced to the 2009 Division III Molten National Championship, scheduled for April 17-18 in Mahwah, N.J. at Ramapo College. Trinsey landed 20 kills on 36 swings with just an error to produce a .528 hitting percentage. Senior middle hitter Andrew Cranford was named the Most Valuable Player of the tournament as he launched four service aces and notched a .571 hitting percentage in the final match against the Golden Flyers. The energy the Ducks had was contagious as Trinsey fueled the fire with his emotions to send Stevens to its sixth NECVA appearance since the inaugural season of 1997.
Set 1 Naz-30, SIT-26
The Ducks were off to a good start on the match behind some aggressive serving of Cranford. Stevens went up 10-6 off of back-to-back kills from Trinsey, splitting the block on both of his swings. Nazareth came back to knot it at 10-all when the squad was able to stop Cranford on a middle attack for a huge block. However, sophomore setter Brandt Grobeis went back to Cranford up the middle to land a kill and put Stevens back up by one. Solid blocking by the Golden Flyers was the theme of the set as a triple block put them on top, 16-15. Nazareth then posted a 4-1 run behind the serve of senior middle blocker Ryan Johnsen (Hamburg, N.Y.).
Down by four (22-18) Cranford landed a kill to switch the momentum in favor of the Ducks as Bochicchio followed it up with a kill of his own. However, service errors and the Ducks inability to block the ball allowed Nazareth to take the first set. Trinsey, Bochicchio and Cranford each had five kills during the set, while Grobeis dished out 17 assists for the Ducks. Junior right-side hitter Brian Bunch (Liverpool, N.Y.) drilled four kills for the Golden Flyers as senior setter Frank Leahy (Smithtown, N.Y.) connected on 12 assists. The difference maker was Nazareth's ability to dominate the net as the team recorded five blocks. Stevens also had seven service errors to its two-team blocks.
Set 2 SIT-30, Naz.-22
Following a lineup change, which saw junior outside hitter John Dennan start the game, the Ducks were off to a 4-1 lead as Cranford drilled a forceful kill out of the middle. Stevens then went up 9-7 as Grobeis landed his first of two service aces of the match. Senior middle blocker Doug Reger came through with a dynamic solo block to put Stevens up by two (10-8). It was then Trinsey who laid a kill down the line to put the Ducks up by three (13-10).
On the ext sequence, some scrappy defense by the Ducks converted into a kill by Bochicchio; his third of the set, to put Stevens up by four as the Golden Flyers burnt a timeout. Freshman outside hitter Billy Gimello (Hauppauge, N.Y.) drilled a kill to cut the deficit to two points (16-14). But a kill from Cranford sparked a 3-0 run for Stevens. A pretty combination attack off an X-play landed another kill for Trinsey (20-16 SIT). The Ducks extended their run to 8-3 (23-17) off a cross-court hit from Trinsey.
A Cranford ace put the Ducks up by seven (28-21), which was followed up with a Bochicchio kill down the line. Stevens knotted the match at 1-1 off another kill from Bochicchio. He led the Ducks with eight kills on the set, while Cranford and Grobeis each tallied an ace. Grobeis dished out 14 assists Stevens totaled a pair of blocks. Gimello had six kills for Nazareth as Leahy connected on 14 assists.
Set 3 SIT-30, Naz-25
The Golden Flyers kept things close in the as the Ducks held a two-point advantage throughout the set. Trinsey landed a kill, which was followed up by a Grobeis ace to allow Stevens to take a slight 7-6 lead. Cranford then put the Ducks up by two (12-10) off a blast through the middle. Reger smashed an over pass by Naz as the Ducks margin grew to three (18-15).
Following a Golden Flyers timeout, Nazareth pulled within one but a Trinsey kill down the line put the Ducks back up by two. Two offensive sequences later, Grobeis once again found Trinsey from the right side (22-19). Stevens went ahead 24-20, of an ace from Dennan. The statement of the set was when Cranford roofed senior middle blocker Kelvin Rolle (Henrietta, N.Y.) off a middle attack. He then went back to the serving line to fire an ace to put the Ducks up by six (27-21). Reger brought Stevens within two points of closing out the set as he landed a kill off a slide attack. The Ducks won on a side out service error by Nazareth. Trinsey led the Ducks with seven kills, while Cranford tallied a pair of aces. Grobeis recorded 14 assists, two blocks and an ace as Stevens had five on the set. Sophomore outside hitter Hans Schroeder (Kenmore, N.Y.) and Gimello registered four kills apiece as Leahy once again dished out 14 assists.
Set 4 SIT-30, Naz-21
Bochicchio put the Ducks up 5-2 after he landed a kill from a back-row attack. It was then Trinsey and Reger that combined for a block as Stevens led 10-6. Trailing by five (11-6), Nazareth takes a timeout after an attacking error. Dennan then posted a kill after he reacted to an over pass by the Golden Flyers (15-7 SIT). Another attacking error forced Nazareth to burn its second timeout.
Trinsey then blasted a kill down the line as Cranford and Dennan combined for the block. On the following sequence, transitioned from offense to defense and this time Cranford and Grobeis went up for the double block to roof Nazareth from the right side. Stevens then took a 13-point advantage off a nice back set from Grobeis to find Trinsey once again. Trinsey registered the 27th point for Stevens, while Cranford took care of points 28 and 29. Bochicchio ended the match for the Ducks with a kill to send them to their sixth Molten appearance.
Stevens will head to the Molten Tournament on April 17, hosted by Ramapo as the Ducks will most likely face University of California-Santa Cruz. Stevens will look to claim its first-ever Molten title.
2009 NECVA ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM
Danial Levent - Baruch
Gabriel Rivera - Baruch
A.J. Witkofsky - Endicott
Frank Leahy - Nazareth
Kelvin Rolle - Nazareth
Billy Gimello - Nazareth
Justin Brubaker - PBU
Tom Kohler - Ramapo
T.C. Elsasser - Ramapo
Jared Andreozzi - Rivier
Andrew Cranford - Stevens
Brandt Grobeis - Stevens
Joe Trinsey - Stevens
Steve Micucci - Vassar
Scott Leserman - Vassar
Phil Tully - Vassar
John Kessenich - Vassar
Most Valuable Player: Andrew Cranford (Stevens)
