Hyannis, MA: The Crimson Eagles of Philadelphia Biblical and the Golden Flyers of Nazareth College will face off tomorrow at the Hyannis Youth and Community Center for the title of NECVA Champions of the 2010 season. PBU earned a 3-2 victory over the #1 seeded Rivier and Nazareth went 3-0 with the #6 seeded MIT in tonight’s semi-final round to advance to the finals tomorrow. The two teams will battle it out for the Michael J. Ricciardi Championship Trophy on Sunday, named after founder and former commission who passed away suddenly on March 21st. The tournament champion earns the conference’s automatic bid to the Division III Molten Invitational held next weekend at Carthage.
Quarter-Final and Semi-Final Match-ups:
Match 9: #1 Rivier defeated #8 Medaille, 3-1 (30-21, 30-27, 21-30, 30-21)
The #1 seeded Raiders of Rivier College defeated Medaille today in the opening match-up of day two of the 2010 championship tournament. Rivier advances to the semi-finals this afternoon at 4pm and will face off with PBU for a chance to play in the finals tomorrow at 1pm. The Raiders combined for 59 kills and hit .214 over Medaille’s .160 with 52 total kills on 144 attempts with 29 errors. Jared Andreozzi (Barrington, RI) led the Raiders with 17 kills while Taylor Lindner (Cheshire, CT) and Matt Ferreira (North Providence, RI) added 13 and 11 respectively. Zach Hansen (Shelton, CT) dished out 49 assists and added ten digs in the win. Andrew Nawotka (Grand Island, NY) led Medaille with 14 kills and Ryan Murdie (Kenmore, NY) chipped in 13 of his own while Ryan Maxwell (Amherst, NY) dished out 45 assists. Nawotka picked up nine digs leading the defense.
Match 10: #15 Nazareth defeated #7 Ramapo, 3-1 (27-30, 30-25, 30-28, 32-30)
Nazareth picked up another upset today as they defeated the Roadrunners of Ramapo College in four sets. The team was led by 23 kills from Hans Schroeder (Kenmore, NY) and 15 from Will Siwy (Derby, NY), while the defense was controlled by Dan Mowery (Phelps, NY) who picked up 11 digs. Nazareth combined hitting .252 overall with 66 kills on 143 attempts with 30 errors. Ramapo hit .279 with 64 kills and 25 errors on 140 attempts. Kurt Backlund (Old Bridge, NJ) posted 16 digs for the second straight match while the team’s offense was controlled by Josh Castillo (Garfield, NJ) and Kevin Froehlich (Ringwood, NJ) who put away 14 kills each. Nazareth advances to the semi-final match-up at 4pm to face off with MIT for their chance to play in the finals tomorrow at 1pm.
Match 11: #6 MIT defeated #14 D’Youville, 3-0 (30-18, 30-26, 30-20)
MIT earned a spot in the semi-final match-up with Nazareth after defeating D’Youville in three straight sets behind 16 kills and four digs from Matt Hohenberger (St. Louis, MO). Mike Demyttenaere (Belgium) recorded ten kills of his own and David Thomas (Carlsbad, CA) added nine, while Tim Lee (Natick, MA) dished out 39 assists in the win. The team combined for 47 kills hitting .369 with 16 errors on 84 attempts. D’Youville hit .067 in the match with 33 kills and 27 errors on 90 attempts. The Spartans were led by Chris Temple (Highwood, IL) with 11 kills and Jeremy Sajdak (Rochester, NY) added eight and JJ Senozetnik (Eden, NY) dished out 39 assists in the match. Senozetnik and Rob Dykeman (Perrineville, NJ) each chipped in five digs for the team.
Match 12: #4 Philadelphia Biblical defeated #5 Endicott, 3-0 (30-21, 30-26, 30-25)
PBU moved forward to the semi-finals after earning a three game sweep over the Gulls from Endicott College. Leandro Dueck (Lititz, PA) led the team with 18 kills and Justin Brubaker (Telford, PA) chipped in 13, while the team combined for 54 kills on 117 attempts with 18 errors. Drew Dillon (Mount Joy, PA) assisted on 48 points and Brubaker led the defense with 17 digs. Dueck recorded 13 digs of his own and Cory Ermold (Boyertown, PA) put away five blocks in the win. The Gulls were led by AJ Witkofsky’s (Scotia, NY) 15 kills. He hit .343 with only three errors on 35 attempts. The team went 42-122 with 17 errors hitting .205. Ben Foster (Penfield, NY) dished out 34 assists and led the defense with 11 digs. PBU advances to face off with the #1 seeded Raiders of Rivier College at 4pm.
Match 13: #4 Philadelphia Biblical defeated #1 Rivier College, 3-2 (24-30, 30-15, 30-28, 30-23, 15-12)
The #4 seeded Crimson Eagles of PBU knocked the #1 seed out of the 2010 tournament today in five sets, earning a spot in the final match-up tomorrow at 1pm verse #15 Nazareth College. Brubaker led the team to the victory recording 37 kills and only five errors on 53 attempts hitting .604 in the win. Dueck recorded 16 kills of his own as the duo combined for 53 of the team’s 71 kills. The team hit .381 in the match-up while Rivier hit 63-137 with 28 errors. Andreozzi recorded a team-high 20 kills for the Raiders hitting .317 on the night. Ferreira contributed 18 kills and Lindner added 12 to the mix while Hansen dished out 58 assists. Rivier’s defense was led by Kyle O’Neill (Long Beach, NY) who picked up ten digs while Brubaker led the Crimson Eagles with 11 digs and five blocks.
Match 14: #15 Nazareth defeated #6 MIT, 3-0 (30-28, 30-27, 31-29)
Nazareth earned a spot in the final match-up tomorrow at 1pm after defeating MIT, 3-0 in the final match-up of the night at the Hyannis Youth and Community Center. The #15 seed was led by Schroeder who put away 15 kills and Billy Gimello (Hauppauge, NY) who hit 12-19 with only two errors hitting .526. Nazareth hit .386 ahead of MIT’s .204 with 50 kills on 88 attempts and 16 errors. MIT combined for 49 kills with 27 errors on 108 attempts. EJ Wells-Spicer (Phelps, NY) assisted on 44 points for Nazareth and MIT’s Lee added 43 assists in the loss. Gimello and Mowery recorded a team leading five digs each for Nazareth and MIT’s defense was controlled by the trio of Lee, Garrett Winther (Broomfield, CO), and Eric Rueland (Laguna Beach, CA) who each picked up five digs.