Win over Endicott highlights first-day Wisconsin Invitational action for Men's Volleyball
| Published: 03/16/2013 |
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MILWAUKEE — After battling back from a 16-12 deficit in the second set, MSOE head coach Brian Gibboney had just seen his team commit a service error to hand an Endicott College team playing determined volleyball, but down a set, both a 23-23 tie and a sideout. Instinctively, Gibboney called timeout.
Just one problem: He had already used his two alloted timeouts for the set.
"Some coaches will do that on purpose and it's a classless move," Gibboney said about the "third" timeout call, which results in an official warning but does not give a point to the other team unless another "improper request," as outlined in Rule 6.2.2 of the NCAA rulebook, is made.
"I didn't mean to call it. It was a mistake but it worked out."
After the confusion, what followed was perhaps the best point of the Raiders' season. Consecutive diving efforts by Matt Morrone (Jr./Worth, Ill./ME) and Josh Dougherty (Fr./Villa Park, Ill./BE) kept the crucial rally alive and Brian Main (Sr./Lamar, Mo./ME) won a jump ball at the net, but Endicott answered back each time and even had a couple dramatic saves of their own as the volleyball flew madly throughout the Kern Center. Finally, Dougherty was able to control a dig nicely to Morrone, who set up Jack Geary (Sr./Milwaukee/ME) for an authoritative kill from the middle.
A roar went up from the Raider players and crowd, an Endicott error followed and MSOE had its signature moment in a 25-18, 25-23, 25-27, 25-20 Wisconsin Invitational win over a Gulls squad that entered the day 15-5 on the year and a perfect 8-0 in the New England Collegiate Conference.
"It was a quality win, no doubt," said Gibboney.
While the lone point was a spectacular example, MSOE (4-11, 1-2 CVC West) consistently played its best volleyball of the year throughout the match. Alex Harbour (Sr./Middleton, Wis./AE) had 18 kills to lead the Raiders, while Main had 16 and Geary had 14. David Johnson (Sr./Glenview, Ill./ME) hit .429 with eight kills and nine combined blocks. MSOE hit .281 as a team, while Endicott hit just .147 and just .039 in the first set, well below their .233 season average. Defensively, John Cote (Sr./Orland Park, Ill./ME) had 11 digs.
Tied at 16 in the first set, a five-point Raider run, highlighted by three Harbour kills, put MSOE in control of the match.
The Gulls fought back, with Josh Anderson finishing the third set with two of his team-high 17 kills to keep Endicott in the match. But they fell flat in the fourth, hitting just .103 and allowing MSOE to hit .333.
OTHER MATCHES & NEWS
Rust scratched from Invitational
A late change forced major changes to the Wisconsin Invitational schedule after Rust College contacted the organizers and indicated they would not be appearing. No public statement was made available about Rust's withdrawl.
To ensure at least four matches for each full participant in the Invitational, the schedule was juggled and MSOE's matches against Medaille and Thiel were moved to tomorrow.
The Invitational is co-hosted by MSOE and Carthage College with matches taking place at both universities.
Brewers look at home in Milwaukee as #10 Vassar topples MSOE
Usually when a team named the Brewers plays in Milwaukee, singles and strikeouts are the subject, not serves and sets.
The Brewers of Vassar College, however, looked just as comfortable in the Brew City as their similarly named Major League Baseball counterparts, topping MSOE in straight sets, 25-21, 25-13 and 25-17.
Vassar (16-7, 7-4 UVC), ranked 10th in the nation in the latest AVCA Coaches Poll, had tremendous success working through the middle with the one-two punch of John Konow and Matt Elgin leading the charge. Konow had 32 assists, many to Elgin, who led the Brewers with 11 kills.
Vassar played the most efficient volleyball of any team in the Invitational as Patrick Donohue turned seven of his nine attacks into kills for a .778 hitting percentage, Elgin hit .643 and Erik Halberg had seven kills while hitting .375.
Vassar's nine errors for the match were nearly equaled by MSOE (4-12, 1-2 CVC West) in the second set alone. Looking physically and emotionally drained after its earlier win over Endicott, MSOE's attack was abysmal in the middle set, notching just six kills and committing eight errors for a negative-.069 hitting percentage.
Vassar began the third set with a three-point run and had runs of four and three-unanswered points later to finish off the victory.
Main led MSOE with 10 kills while Geary and Johnson had eight each with Geary hitting .400.
Fontbonne forces #10 Vassar to four sets
In the first match of the Invitational at the Kern Center, Fontbonne overcame .061 hitting in the opening set to capture the second, but couldn't pull off the upset as Vassar took the match, 25-14, 21-25, 25-14 and 25-14.
After dropping the first five points and the first set, Fontbonne (1-13, 0-2 CVC West) started the second stanza with a 3-0 run of its own, keyed by a Cody Schmelzle kill. An errant serve cut the Griffins' advantage to 14-13, but two Marc Viglasky kills contributed to a four-point Fontbonne streak to widen the lead back to five. Fontbonne would never trail in the second and recorded a .367 hitting percentage, its highest of the day.
Vassar (15-7, 7-4 UVC) returned to form in the third and fourth sets. In the third, the Brewers won seven of the last eight points and hit .533, then hopped out to a 9-4 lead in the fourth set while holding Fontbonne to .107 hitting.
Joe Pyne had a double-double for the Brewers with 19 kills and 11 digs. Reno Kriz registered 12 kills and Elgin had 11. Every active Vassar player saw the floor in the match.
Aaron Graue had 18 kills to lead the Griffins.
Endicott takes Fontbonne in straight sets
Still stinging from their loss to MSOE, Endicott stayed on the floor for the third match of the day and rebounded well, beating Fontbonne, 25-20, 25-16 and 25-14.
The first set was still in peril at 20-19 before Endicott (16-6, 8-0 NECC) scored five of the last six points to win it. John Osborne had three of his team-high eight kills in that final sequence.
Fontbonne (1-14, 0-2 CVC West) held a 14-12 lead in the second set before the Gulls struck for 13 of the next 15 points. The Griffins' fade was due in large part to errors, as they hit just .029 in the second frame.
Up 15-10 in the third, Endicott scored seven of the next eight points to end any comeback hopes.
Graue led all attackers with 15 kills while James Stika had 10 digs for the Griffins.
Action Continues Tomorrow
MSOE will play two more matches in tomorrow's final day of action in the Invitational. The Raiders will start the day against the Thiel Tomcats at 10 a.m. CDT, then will return to face #12 Medaille at 2 p.m. Medaille has had a busy weekend in Wisconsin, having also participated in an invitational tournament at Cardinal Stritch on Friday before playing two matches at Carthage yesterday.
In between the two MSOE matches, Medaille will take on Fontbonne at noon, while the Griffins will round out the day against Thiel at 4 p.m.
Tickets will be good for all matches on-site and are available at the Kern Center Box Office.
