NORTON, Mass. – After holding off hosts Wheaton in the opening match to earn a 3-0 sweep, the No. 16 MIT men's volleyball team could not pull off the comeback attempt as the Engineers dropped their second match of the season to Endicott, 3-1, on Sunday afternoon at the Emerson Gymnasium on the campus of Wheaton College.
THE BASICS:
- Scores:
- MIT 3, Wheaton 0 (25-19, 25-22, 25-19)
- Endicott 3, MIT 1 (27-25, 25-20, 20-25, 25-22)
- Records: MIT 8-2 Overall, Wheaton 2-4 Overall, Endicott 2-3 Overall
HOW IT HAPPENED vs. WHEATON:
- Set 1: A 2-0 run by the Lyons made it a 12-10 match in favor of MIT, but an ace and kill from Nate Toth helped the Engineers extend their lead over the hosts. Wheaton continued to hang around but could get no closer than two points as MIT closed the set scoring four-straight points, capped by a kill from Henry Garewal for the 25-19 win.
- Set 2: Hansen Fan tied the set at nine as the teams went back-and-forth in the early portions of the second frame. Michael Rini got the teams even at 15, but Wheaton got back-to-back points to force an Engineer timeout. MIT regained the lead on an attack error by the Lyons and went on to take the second set by a 25-22 margin off a block by Fan and Jensen Fiskin.
- Set 3: Alexander Garrett gave MIT an early 10-5 advantage with a kill, but Wheaton chipped away at the Engineer lead, using a 5-0 run to pull to within one at 17-16. From there, MIT outscored Wheaton 8-3 as an attack error by the host secured the three-set win for MIT.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS:
- Garrett put up a match-high 11 kills while Rini collected six. Garrett also led the way with nine digs and finished the match with a .400 hitting percentage.
- Fiskin led the way with 17 assists followed by Nathaniel Black with 10.
- Rini collected five blocks and Ryan Espinoza had three.
HOW IT HAPPENED vs. ENDICOTT:
- Set 1: In a tightly contested opening set which featured 12 ties, Endicott scored four unanswered points to build a 22-18 lead. A 4-1 spurt brought the Engineers to one at 23-22, and back-to-back kills from Garrett and Toth held off set point for the Gulls and tied the match at 24. After the teams exchanged service errors, Endicott got back-to-back kills from Thomas Matchette and Jake Laborde to take set one, 27-25.
- Set 2: Toth gave the Engineers a 14-12 advantage, but the Gulls regained the lead off an MIT error. An Endicott service error tied the match at 18, but the Gulls held on for the victory, closing the set on a 7-2 run for the 25-20 win.
- Set 3: Fan pulled the teams even at 14 which helped propel the Engineers to the set win. From there, MIT began to pull ahead, taking advantage of Endicott errors. An ace from Colin Zimmerman gave the Engineers a 20-18 lead and a 4-1 run sealed the set win as a kill from Rini gave MIT the 25-20 win.
- Set 4: The Gulls took a quick 4-1 lead, but a block from Rini tied the match at five. The Engineers built a 13-9 lead off a Toth ace before a 5-0 run put Endicott in the lead, 14-13. An attack error by the Gulls made it a 16-16, but Endicott used a 4-1 run to pull ahead 20-17. A block from Garrett got MIT back to within one at 23-22 but the Engineers could not get any closer as the Gulls got the next two points to secure the 25-22 win.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS:
- Toth and Garrett each had 10 kills in the match.
- Zimmerman led the way with three aces, three blocks, and 38 assists.
- Garrett and Rini also accounted for three blocks while Rini also had six kills.
- George Chang collected 14 digs while Garrett had 10.
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