Six Nighthawks Named to All-Conference Team

Six Newbury College men's volleyball players were named to the All-New England Collegiate Conference team last week. The Nighthawks and Blazers of Elms College grabbed all six slots on the first team while Newbury landed two players on the second team.

Junior Mark Thomas (Wilbraham, MA/Minnechaug Regional) headlined Newbury on the All- conference first team. Thomas earned his 1,000^th career kill against the University of New Haven on February 9 and leads the team with 462 kills, 36 solo blocks and 73 assisted blocks. Senior Bryan McDermand (Palatine, IL/Montini Catholic) and sophomore Matt Talamantes (Sylmar, CA/Viewpoint) joined Thomas on the first team. McDermand also recorded his 1,000^th career kill against M.I.T on March 5 and is second behind Thomas with 342 kills. He leads the Nighthawks with 38 service aces and 238 defensive digs. Talamantes leads Newbury with 1,151 assists and second on the team with 33 service aces.

Sophomore James Beck (Havre de Grace, MD/Havre de Grace) and junior Joshua Aberly (Palatine, IL/Palatine) were named to the second team. Beck tallied 221 kills on the season, 15 solo blocks and 31 block assists while Aberly is third on the team with 238 kills and 207 defensive digs while recording 28 solo blocks and 51 assisted blocks. Fellow sophomore libero Michael Biuso (South Setauket, NY/Ward Melville) received honorable mention honors with 224 digs behind only McDermand.