CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – Wrapping up its regular season at day two of the Mass. Institute of Technology Scramble, the Southern Vt. College men's volleyball team lost to the hosting Engineers 3-0 before topping Bard College 3-0.
SVC finishes the regular season with a 13-12 mark, the first time in the program's nine years that the Mountaineers had a winning record at the conclusion of regular season play. The 13 wins is also the most for any Southern Vt. men's volleyball squad, besting the total of 12 set during the 2012 campaign.
Being named to the All-Tournament Team was SVC senior Anthony Barahona (Eagle Rock, Calif.) who led the team in kills in each of the four matches over the weekend.
Southern Vt. now prepares for the New England Collegiate Conference Championship next weekend at Endicott College, getting ready to face Daniel Webster College as the No. 3 seed of the tournament. The two teams split the regular season series and will matchup at EC Friday evening.
MIT 3, Southern Vt. 0
The Engineers, who had been ranked No. 8 in last week's AVCA coaches poll, took the morning match over SVC with set scores of 26-24, 25-18, and 25-18.
Barahona tallied 11 kills and also led the team with 13 digs, adding a solo block and an assist. Junior Scott Fitzgerald (Fort Edward, N.Y.) registered nine kills and five digs while junior libero Florentino Escovedo (Fresno, Calif.) chipped in with 12 digs. Juniors Joey Dighton (Riverside, Calif.) and Keven Walley (Pico Rivera, Calif.) tabbed eight kills apiece, and senior setter Anthony Ayala (Pico Rivera, Calif.) recorded a match-best 33 assists.
Southern Vt. 3, Bard 0
The Mountaineers took down the Raptors with game scores of 25-23, 25-16, and 25-23.
Barahona topped his side with 13 kills, adding nine digs and two service aces to his line; the senior committed no hitting errors on 25 swings for a .520 hitting percentage. Dighton followed up with 10 kills to go with two block assists and another solo, and Escovedo tallied a match-best 19 digs. Ayala assisted on 36 of the 40 Mountaineer kills while junior Anthony Contreras (Norwalk, Calif.) added seven kills and three service aces.