Men's Volleyball Stevens Invitational Recap

Newbury 3, Hunter 2 (21-30, 30-22, 30-19, 28-30, 15-13)
Junior Mark Thomas (Wilbraham, Mass.) paved the way for Newbury offensively, registering a team-high 14 kills, while senior Josh Aberly (Palatine, Ill.) finished with 11 kills and eight blocks. Juniors James Beck (Havre de Grace, Md.) and Max Daley (Cranston, R.I.) had nine and 10 kills, respectively, with Daley also adding seven block assists. Fellow junior Michael Biuso (South Setauket, N.Y.) had 15 digs in defense, while junior setter Matt Talamantes (Los Angeles, Calif.) collected 46 assists.

Hunter junior Christopher Newcomb (Waimea, Kauai, Hawaii) tallied a match-high 22 kills in the loss, while sophomore Eric Barty (Jamaica, N.Y.) totaled 20 kills. Sophomore libero Sam Martin (Northport, N.Y.) had a team-high 15 digs, while fellow sophomore Brendan Feng (Jackson Heights, N.Y.) amassed 35 assists.

Newbury 3, No. 7 Nazareth 0 (30-27, 30-28, 30-28)
Aberly tallied a match-high 16 kills to lead Newbury to an upset win over Nazareth, while Beck and Thomas added 11 and 10 kills, respectively. Biuso had nine digs in the victory, while Talamantes collected 55 assists.

Sophomore outside hitter Billy Gimello (Hauppauge, N.Y.) and junior middle blocker Will Siwy (Derby, N.Y.) totaled nine kills each to lead Nazareth, while senior setter Kevin Kirchhoff (Penfield, N.Y.) dished out 29 assists. Freshman libero Dan Mowery (Phelps, N.Y.) had a team-high 14 digs in the loss.

No. 4 Stevens 3, Newbury 1 (24-30, 30-26, 30-22, 30-24)
With the first set knotted at three, Newbury rattled off three-consecutive points on a pair of Stevens' errors and a Matt Talamantes (Los Angeles, Calif.) kill to take an early, 6-3 lead. Still ahead by three at 9-6, the Nighthawks mounted a 6-3 run, capped off by a James Beck (Havre de Grace, Md.) kill to take a 15-9 advantage.

Newbury senior Joshua Aberly (Palatine, Ill.) later hammered home a kill making it 17-10 before a Nighthawk error followed by back-to-back Timothy Karl kills trimmed the Ducks' deficit to three. The Nighthawks responded with a 4-1 spurt, capped off by a Max Daley (Cranston, R.I.) kill to push the lead back up to 21-14.

Stevens would pull within five at 25-20, but Newbury outscored their Duck counterparts, 5-4, down the stretch to take a 1-0 lead in the best of five.

With the second set tied at nine, Stevens Jonathan Landis kick-started a 4-0 Stevens run with a service ace. Down, 15-11, Newbury battled back, scoring five of the set's next seven points to pull within one at 17-16, but back-to-back Landis kills gave the Ducks a three-point cushion.

Up 23-20, junior SteFan PremDas and senior co-captain John Dennan hammered home successive kills to make it 25-20, spurring a Stevens' win in set two.

Landis and senior middle hitter Christopher Egebo helped stake Stevens to an early 4-1 lead in the pivotal third set, with the duo notching a kill apiece. Newbury would again battle back, with the Nighthawks tying the set at 13 on a Danny Kim (Plainview, N.Y.) kill, but six-straight Newbury errors gave Stevens a 19-13 lead.

The Nighthawks pulled within four at 21-17 following a Mark Thomas (Wilbraham, Mass.) kill, but the Ducks closed out the set on an 8-2 run, taking a 2-1 advantage on a Dennan kill.

A Beck tally put Newbury up 11-7 in the fourth set, but consecutive Nighthawk errors sliced the margin down to two. With the lead back up to four at 18-14, Stevens rallied, mounting a 9-2 run, taking a 24-20 edge after a Dennan score. Newbury later cut it to two with another Beck kill, making it 25-23, but Stevens closed out the match on a 5-1 run to seal their fourth victory of the season.

Egebo tallied a match-high 16 kills while hitting .500 in the win. Landis added 15 kills and six digs, while Dennan and PremDas finished with 11 and 10 kills, respectively. Senior co-captain Brandt Grobeis collected 53 assists, while Aaron Ostrovsky had 16 digs.

Aberly led Newbury offensively with 16 kills, while Beck tallied 15 kills. Talamantes finished with 44 assists, while junior Mike Biuso (South Setauket, N.Y.) had a team-high 14 digs.

- Game story provided by Ben Badua, Assistant Sports Information Director - Stevens Institute of Technology