HOBOKEN, N.J. (April 2, 2011) – Despite senior outside hitter Jonathan Landis' team-high 12 kills, the Stevens Institute of Technology men's volleyball team, ranked 13th in the latest American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) poll, could not overcome top-seeded Nazareth College, falling to the Golden Flyers 3-0 (25-23, 25-23, 25-19) in the 2011 NECVA Tournament quarterfinals at Canavan Arena in Hoboken, N.J. With the loss, the Ducks dropped to 18-12 overall on the season.
Down 3-2 early, senior middle Timothy Karl hammered home a cross-court kill to put deadlock the set. Trailing 8-6, sophomore Jake Modestow snuck a kill just inside the backline, before a David Evans ace and a Modestow block helped Stevens regain a 9-8 edge.
Nazareth responded with a 6-2 run, building a 14-11 lead, forcing a Stevens timeout. The Ducks strung together consecutive points to trim the deficit to one, before a Golden Flyers' block on a would-be Landis kill made it 15-13.
Stevens would battle back to a 19-19 tie before a Brandt Grobeis block staked the Ducks to a slim one-point advantage. Nazareth answered by outscoring Stevens 6-4 down the stretch to take a closely contested first set, 25-23.
Hoping to carry their momentum into the second, Nazareth raced out to an 8-4 lead before an Evans kill momentarily slowed the surging Golden Flyers. Undaunted, Nazareth rattled off an 8-6 run to go up 16-10.
Looking to keep pace, Stevens pulled within three at 19-16 on a Landis kill before a Ryan Seifert spike coupled with a Modestow block quickly pared the Golden Flyers' margin to one, forcing a Nazareth stoppage.
Seifert later knotted the set at 20 with a block, but a Ducks error on the ensuing play led to consecutive Nazareth points and a 22-20 edge for the tournament's top seed. Trailing 23-21 after a timeout, Seifert found a crease in the Golden Flyer defense, putting away a kill to bring Stevens back within one.
Still ahead at 24-23, Nazareth senior Hans Schroeder (Kenmore, N.Y.) powered a kill past a pair of Stevens blockers, sealing an identical 25-23 win and a 2-0 match lead.
Down 4-2 to start the third, Seifert buried another kill pulling the Ducks within one, but two-straight Nazareth points once again upped the margin to three. Continuing to go on the offensive, the Golden Flyers extended their lead to 10-5 before a SteFan PremDas kill and an Evans ace once again made it a three-point affair.
Trying to mount a comeback, Stevens clawed to within one on a Modestow kill that cut it to 16-15, but Nazareth recorded three of the frame's next four points to take push the lead back up to three. The Golden Flyers later built a five-point cushion at 22-17 before eventually closing out the match with a 25-19 third set victory.
Landis paced Stevens with 12 kills, three digs and three blocks, while Seifert added eight kills. Karl and Evans combined for 12 kills and seven digs, while Modestow added five kills and four blocks. Grobeis capped off his final NECVA Tournament run with a 38-assist, seven-dig, five-block effort.
Junior outside hitter Billy Gimello (Hauppauge, N.Y.) led Nazareth with 14 kills, hitting .444, while Schroeder added nine kills, eight digs and three blocks. Senior middle blocker Ellis Walsh (Penfield, N.Y.) registered a .545 attack rate, finishing with seven kills, while sophomore setter EJ Wells-Spicer (Phelps, N.Y.) dished out 35 assists.
Rivier 3, Medaille 2 (25-21, 21-25, 25-22, 18-25, 15-7)
Rivier held Medaille to a paltry -.030 hitting percentage in a 25-17 first set victory, but he Mavericks regrouped and rebounded in the second, tallying 13 kills on 24 swings in a 25-21 triumph. The Raiders responded with a hard-fought 25-22 win in the third, but the Mavericks again broke out in the fourth frame, this time registering a .333 hitting percentage in a 25-18 victory. With the match on the line, Rivier surrendered just two kills on 13 swings in the final set (-.231), earning a 15-7 match-clinching triumph.
Senior outside hitter Jared Andreozzi (Barrington, R.I.) hit .341 with 20 kills and seven digs, while sophomore middle hitter Taylor Lindner (Cheshire, Conn.) added 13 kills. Junior middle hitter Alex Xenidis (Shelton, Conn.) added six kills and a match-best 10 blocks, while junior defensive specialist Chris Convertito (Trumbull, Conn.) collected a match-high 11 digs. Sophomore setter Steve Visentin (Cheshire, Conn.) dished out 46 assists in the win.
Three Mavericks finished with at least 10 kills, lead by sophomore middle blocker Erin Kelly (Clifton Springs, N.Y.) who tallied 16 spikes on a .448 hitting percentage. Junior Nick Johnson (Buffalo, N.Y.) and freshman Trevor Barrett (Amherst, N.Y.) finished with 13 and 10 kills, respectively, while senior libero Dan Jackson (Hamburg, N.Y.) chipped in with a team-high 10 digs. Senior setter Ryan Maxwell (Amherst, N.Y.) amassed 44 helpers in the loss.
Philadelphia Biblical 3, MIT 2 (17-25, 19-25, 26-24, 25-17, 15-6)
After dropping the first two sets by scores of 25-17 and 25-19, PBU got things going in the third, hitting a match-best .400, tallying 16 kills on 30 swings en route to a closely contested 26-24 triumph. The Crimson Eagles kept things rolling in the fourth frame, registering a .333 attack rate in a 25-17 victory. Continuing to ride their momentum, PBU closed out the match with its third-straight victory, capturing the tiebreak 15-6 while hitting .700.
Senior Justin Brubaker (Telford, Pa.) led PBU with 26 kills and eight digs, hitting .400 for the match, while sophomore Ethan Mawhinney (Langhorne, Pa.) and Noah Prickett (Yardley, Pa.) each added eight kills. Junior libero Jeff Stauffer (Columbia, Pa.) collected 10 digs in the win, while senior setter Drew Dillon (Mount Joy, Pa.) dished out a match-best 51 assists.
Junior middle hitter David Thomas (Carlsbad, Calif.) led the Engineers with 12 kills, while freshman outside hitter Ken Siebert (St. Louis, Mo.) and senior Malcolm Bean (Rochester, N.Y.) each tallied nine kills. Sophomore middle Patrick Vatterott (St. Louis, Mo.) chipped in with a match-high 10 blocks, while senior setter Tim Lee (Natick, Mass.) had 33 helpers.
Baruch 3, Emmanuel 1 (25-16, 30-28, 25-19, 25-22)
Hoping to take an early edge, Baruch came out strong, posting a .647 hitting percentage in a 25-16 first set victory. Emmanuel responded by tallying 15 kills on 28 swings in a hard-fought 30-28 win in the second, but Baruch again found its rhythm in the third, hitting .435 in a 25-19 triumph. The Bearcats then held the Saints to a paltry .129 attack in the final frame, a 25-22 win.
Senior outside hitter Pablo Oliveira (Uberlandia, Brazil) hit .361 with 21 kills to pace the Baruch attack, while fellow senior Eryk Kowalski (Zabno, Poland) and freshman middle blocker Steven Coniglio (Plainview, N.Y.) added 15 and 10 spikes, respectively. Sophomore Jesus Echevarria (San Juan, Puerto Rico) chipped in with a match-high 49 assists and seven digs.
Senior Curtis Abram (San Luis Obispo, Calif.) recorded a team-high 18 kills to lead Emmanuel, while fellow senior Thomas McCaffrey (Massapequa, N.Y.) added nine kills and four blocks. Senior libero Jake DeLuise (Wakefield, R.I.) picked up a match-high eight digs, while sophomore setter Nick Updike (Manhattan Beach, Calif.) tallied 40 helpers.
Nazareth 3, PBU 2 (25-19, 21-25, 25-22, 17-25 15-9)
Off to a fast start, Nazareth registered a .400 hitting percentage in a 25-19 first set victory, but PBU quickly rebounded with a 25-21 set two win to deadlock the match at a frame apiece. The Golden Flyers regained their form in the third set, putting up a .370 attack rate in a 25-22 victory. Despite hitting .417 in the fourth, Nazareth fell 25-17, again tying the match. The Golden Flyers regrouped in the tiebreak, tallying a .571 hitting percentage on 14 swings en route to a 15-9 triumph.
Gimello had 20 kills, hitting .485 to lead Nazareth, while Schroeder and Bunch finished with 13 and 11 kills, respectively. Walsh tallied 10 kills, hitting .500 in the win, while Wells-Spicer dished out 57 assists.
Brubaker had 19 kills to lead PBU, while Mawhinney tallied 10 kills and four blocks. Stauffer collected 11 digs in the loss, while Dillon handed out 42 helpers.
Baruch 3, Rivier 2 (25-21, 25-22, 21-25, 23-25, 15-12)
Baruch got off to a quick start, holding second-seeded Rivier to a .161 hitting percentage in the first, a 25-21 win, before recording a .556 attack rate in a 25-22 set two victory. The Raiders responded with a .409 hitting percentage in the third, taking it 25-21, before limiting Baruch to a .074 attack percentage in the fourth frame – a 25-23 triumph. Looking to get back on track the Bearcats would regain their form in the tiebreak, notching eight kills on just 16 swings, clinching the match with a 15-12 victory.
Kowalski led Baruch with 24 kills, nine digs, six blocks, and a .405 hitting percentage, while Oliveira finished with 20 kills and 10 digs. Echevarria added 52 assists in the win, while also tallying nine digs.
Andreozzi finished with 23 kills to lead Rivier, while Xenidis and Linder finished with 17 and 10 spikes, respectively. Visentin dished out a tournament-high 61 assists in the loss.
