BENNINGTON, VT. – Bolstering a team hitting percentage of .333, Southern Vermont College swept Newbury College 3-0 Thursday night in New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) men's volleyball action.

Southern Vt. improves to 9-7 on the year, 5-2 in NECC play, with set scores of 25-18, 25-20, and 25-20. The Nighthawks fall to 3-15 this season, 1-6 against the conference.

The best game from either side came in the second when SVC posted a .429 hitting percentage, committing just three hitting errors to go with 12 kills on 21 attack attempts.

The Mountaineers were led by junior Keven Walley (Pico Rivera, Calif.) who notched 10 kills and only one attacking error on 15 swings for a .600 hitting percentage. Newbury freshman Billy Stephen (Windermere, Fla.) topped all players with 12 kills to go along with his two service aces and two digs.

Juniors Scott Fitzgerald (Fort Edward, N.Y.) and Joey Dighton (Riverside, Calif.) followed Walley on the SVC side with nine kills apiece with Fitzgerald chipping in with a match-high six digs. Senior setter Anthony Ayala (Pico Rivera, Calif.) assisted on 34 of the 36 Mountaineer kills while classmate Anthony Barahona (Eagle Rock, Calif.) added seven kills, two digs, a solo block and a block assist.

Newbury junior Chi Yin Li (Hong Kong, China) helped the cause with five kills and two digs while setting up the Nighthawk offense with 16 assists. Senior Pat Robidoux (Barrington, R.I.) chipped in with eight assists and a team-best four digs while senior Jake Powell (Salinas, Calif.) had four kills and two digs.

Southern Vt. is now off for its Spring Break and will resume play Monday, March 24 when the Mountaineers pay Daniel Webster College a visit for a 7 p.m. rematch from earlier in the season. Newbury next travels to Anna Maria College this Monday for a 7 p.m. contest rescheduled from Feb. 13.