Nighthawks Win Second Straight NECC Title

The Newbury College men’s volleyball team defeated Elms College, 3-1 today in Brookline, MA, to win their second straight New England Collegiate Conference Championship title.   The Nighthawks were paced by tournament Most Valuable Player Matt Talamantes (Los Angeles, CA) who finished the match with 9 kills, 7 digs and a game high 45 assists.  

In game one, the Nighthawks jumped out to the early lead, taking the first set 25-15 behind strong hitting from outside hitter Danny Kim (Plainville, NY) and middle blocker Max Daley (Cranston, RI).  Kim would finish with 4 kills on 4 attempts while teammate Daley finished with 3 on 4 attempts.  Talamantes would round out the scoring with 4 kills of his own, while dishing out 12 assists.  The Blazers were paced by Yonalvy Acosta (Holyoke,MA) with 4 kills while Bryson Rainey (Brookline, MA) and Stephen Cameron (Newington, CT) would add 2 each in the losing effort.      

In game two, Elms would pull even as they went on to defeat Newbury 25-20, again paced by all-tournament selection Acosta and Rainey, as they combined for 8 kills in the set.  Fellow Blazer Cameron would also add 5 kills in the victory to go with 5 digs.  Despite the loss in the second set, all-tournament selection Daley hit 6 kills on 6 attempts for the Nighthawks. 

Newbury would bounce back and make a statement in game three by defeating the Blazers 25-9.  First Year outside hitter Chris Espinola (Derry, NH) led the way for the Nighthawks with 6 kills and 2 digs, while Talamantes and all-tournament selection James Beck (Havre De Grace, MD) would add 3 kills a piece.  Rainey and Cameron each had 2 kills a piece in the loss for Elms. 

The fourth and final set of the match provided the most drama, as the Blazer battled back from seven points down to pull within one 22-23 but the Nighthawks were able to rattle off the remaining three points to seal the championship.  Beck and Daley once again added 5 kills each, while Talamantes handed out 15 assists in the victory.  Elms was once again led by Acosta who managed to knock down 6 kills on 8 attempts but it was not enough as Elms would fall 3 points short. 

With the win, Newbury improves to 23-11 on the season and wins their second straight NECC Championship title, while Elms falls to 12-17 on the year and finished runner-up for the first time in the NECC.