CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – The Lesley University men's volleyball team dropped the season series to Endicott College following a 3-0 loss (25-13, 25-17, 25-21) to the Gulls tonight in New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) action at Buckingham, Browne, and Nichols. Endicott, who sits atop the conference standings, improves to 13-8 overall and 8-1 in NECC play while the Lynx drop to 0-17 on the year and 0-10 in the league.
A balanced attack fueled the Gulls as 12 different players recorded kills. Senior Brandon Chadwick (Chelmsford, Mass.) and junior Billy Mullen (Weymouth, Mass.) led the team with seven kills apiece as the two combined to hit .275 from the floor. Senior Travis Netherton (Waukegan, Ill.) and freshman Ryan Sutherland (Fairport, N.Y.) each finished with four kills. Sophomores Cameron Little (San Diego, Calif.) and Tyler Bacon (Cypress, Calif.) split the setting duties, finishing with 21 and 13 assists, respectively.
Lesley freshman Tyler Burns (Newtown, Pa.) led the Lynx offense with nine kills on a career-high .280 hitting percentage. The rookie was effective with his serve as he also set a new personal-best with a game-high five aces. Senior Melvin Morales (Chelsea, Mass.) connected for six kills to go with his five digs while classmate Makenzie Lukas (Reno, Nev.) finished with three kills and five digs of his own. Freshman setter Mitchel Ulacco (Winchester, Mass.) led the Lynx with 17 assists.
The visitors jumped out to a 10-3 lead to start the opening set and never looked back as they rolled to the 25-13 win. All six starters recorded kills for the Gulls who swung a combine .429 from the floor. Netherton led the way in the set with four kills while seniors Brennan Lowe (Malibu, Calif.) and Mike Coniglione (Glenville, N.Y.) and sophomore John Osborne (Freehold, N.J.) each finished with three.
The Endicott momentum spilled over into the start of the second set as they opened a 12-2 advantage over the Lynx. A kill and three straight aces from Tyler Burns cut the Gulls lead down to 12-6. Later in the set trailing 22-13, Burns' fourth ace of the night powered a 4-1 run by the Lynx, but it was too late as a Mullen kill and Lesley error ended the second set with a 25-17 score in favor of the Gulls. Mullen held the hot hand for the visitors in the set, knocking down four kills.
Endicott held a 4-1 edge in the third before Lesley scored six of the next ten points to pull within one, 8-7. The Gulls answered right back and took charge with a 9-2 spurt of their own to take an 18-9 lead. Burns and the Lynx would not go down quietly, however, as the hosts cut the deficit to five with a 9-5 run. Trailing 24-18, Lesley would score four in a row on a Burns kill and three Endicott errors before a Daniel Toth (Vernon, N.J.) kills capped the sweep for the Gulls with a 25-22 third set win. Burns finished with six kills in the final set for Lesley while Morales connected for three of his six kills on the night in the final set. Chadwick led the Gulls with six kills and a .286 hitting percentage in the third.
Endicott, winners of three straight, finished with a .289 hitting percentage on the night while the Lynx struggled from the floor, hitting a combined .014.
Lesley will return to the floor and conclude their home schedule with Senior Night on Monday, March 31st when they host Southern Vermont College at 8:00p. Endicott will host the Mountaineers tomorrow night at the MacDonald Gymnasium. First serve is set for 7:00p.