BEVERLY, Mass. – In a tri-match with New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) opponent Endicott College and regional rival Wentworth Institute of technology, the Lesley men's volleyball team dropped their two matches by 0-3 scores. The Gulls defeated the Lynx with set scores of 25-16, 25-10, 25-6 in the afternoon's first match while falling to the Leopards 25-12, 25-5, and 25-9 in the second match.
Match One: Endicott 3, Lesley 0 (25-16, 25-10, 25-6)
Endicott freshman outside Tyler Willgoos (Newington, Conn.), playing in his first action of the 2014 season, turned in a remarkable effort with a match-high kills on 25 attempts with a .320 hitting percentage to go along with seven digs, four service aces, and a block assist. Willgoos was complemented by nine kills and .500 hitting percentage from sophomore middle Daniel Toth (Vernon, N.J.) who also blocked two Lesley attempts at the net.
Sophomore outside Chandler Tayek (Rolling Hills Estates, Calif.) added four kills but factored in mostly defensively with a match-high 12 digs and quality serving with six aces. Defensive specialist Kristian Catalan (Sudbury, Mass.) and setter Tyler Bacon (Cypress, Calif.) each added five digs for the Gulls.
For the Lynx (0-7, 0-3 NECC), freshman outside Tyler Burns (Newtown, Pa.) and sophomore CJ Sutton (Billerica, Mass.) each had a team-high four kills. Senior defensive specialist Makenzie Lukas (Reno, Nev.) led the team with nine digs while both Sutton and Burns each had six digs apiece. Freshman setter Mitchel Ulacco (Winchester, Mass.) had eight assists in the loss.
Match Two: Wentworth 3, Lesley 0 (25-12, 25-5, 25-9)
Wentworth (10-2) sophomore Bill Shimkus (Sudbury, Mass.) set a program record with 15 service aces in the three set win and dished out 21 assists, including nine to senior middle Brian Mann (East Freetown, Mass.) who put up a perfect 1.000 hitting percentage on all nine attempts. Shimkus added six digs and two block assists to his record setting day.
Leopards junior Rami Akouri (Fall River, Mass.) finished second on the team with four kills and five other Wentworth attackers added three kills each in the win over Lesley.
Defensively for Wentworth, Akouri had a team-high seven digs while freshman middle Mike Hansen (Rochester, N.Y.) had three block assists to lead his squad.
Lukas had a match-high eight digs for Lesley while Burns and senior outside Aqib Shah (Watertown, Mass.) combined for a block. The Lesley offense was unable to get going as the team finished with a negative hitting percentage.
The Lynx will return to the court on Tuesday, February 25th when they host Anna Maria College at Buckingham, Browne, and Nichols. First serve is set for 8:00p.