Men’s Volleyball Downs No. 13 Nationally Ranked MIT, 3-2

BEVERLY, Mass. – The Endicott men's volleyball team rallied from a 2-1 deficit on Tuesday night to defeat No. 13 nationally ranked MIT, 3-2, by scores of 17-25, 25-22, 18-25, 30-28, and 15-9 in non-conference action at MacDonald Gymnasium.

Endicott finished off the comeback behind several key performances in the final two sets, highlighted by the play of Seth Braquet (Destrehan, La.) down the stretch. In the fourth set, Braquet posted five kills on seven swings (.714) – the last of which gave Endicott a 29-28 advantage – alongside an additional three block assists and a dig in set five.

On top of Braquet's clutch performance in the later portions of the match, the Gulls saw Troy Riorden (Fairport, N.Y.), Bryn Lipton (Rockford, Ill.), and Chad Riorden (Fairport, N.Y.) compile double-doubles in the win as well.

T. Riorden registered 13 kills and 10 digs, while his brother, C. Riorden, had 25 assists and 11 digs. Lipton rounded out the trio with 13 kills and 11 digs. Daniel Toth (Glenwood, N.J.) also contributed an all-around performance in the victory with five kills, one service ace, six digs, and 10 blocks (two solo, eight assisted), while Adam Dake (Victor, N.Y.) helped run the offense with 22 assists alongside six digs.

Endicott traversed its way through 16 tied scores and four lead changes in set four, and broke open a 4-4 tie in set five with a 5-0 run to send the Engineers home with a loss.

BEYOND THE BOX SCORE

• For the second straight season, Endicott has defeated MIT when the Engineers were ranked No. 13 in the country.
• Both victories have been by 3-2 scores (Jan .30, 2016 | Mar. 21, 2017).
• Endicott has won the last two matches versus MIT (Jan. 28, 2017 | Mar. 21, 2017).
• The Gulls held MIT to a season-low .149 hitting percentage in a five-set match.
• Endicott managed that feat by recording season-highs in blocks (17 total, three solo, 27 assisted) and digs (57).

 FOR THE FOES

• Tavish Smith (Laguna Beach, Calif.) notched a match-high 14 kills.
• Skyler Kaufman (Needham, Mass.) had 12 kills and 10 blocks (one solo, nine assisted).
• Martin Krasuski (Aurora, Ill.) collected 11 kills, six digs, and seven blocks (two solo, five assisted).
• Yize Dong (Moraga, Calif.) facilitated the offense with a match-high 40 assists.
• Suyash Fulay (Wexford, Pa.) and Jordan Lucier (Torrance, Calif.) guided the defense with 20 and 10 digs, respectively.

WHAT'S NEXT

Endicott (12-9) hosts Elms in a conference matchup tomorrow night at 6 PM. MIT (18-8) travels to New York this Saturday for a tri-match against Elmira and host New York University at 1:30 and 4:00 PM, respectively. 

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