Men’s Volleyball Secures Doubleheader Sweep

AURORA, N.Y. – The Wells College men's volleyball team secured two victories Saturday afternoon at the Frances Tarlton Farenthold Athletic Wing. With the victories against the Bison of Gallaudet University and the Wildcats of Cazenovia College, the Express improve to 7-5 overall as they have won seven of their last eight games played. The Express also jump out to a 2-0 record within North Eastern Athletic Conference play following the sweep.

The Express set back the Bison of Gallaudet University by a 3-1 margin via set scores of 25-18, 25-20, 14-25 and 25-17. For the Express, freshman Winston Papoe (Bronx, N.Y.) led the team with seven kills to his credit and posting a .385 hitting percentage to lead the way. Freshman Derek Nipps (Turnersville, N.J.) assisted 17 kills for the Express while libero Chris Tinozzi (Syracuse, N.Y.) led the way defensively with 11 digs.

After cruising to a 25-18 first set victory, the Bison tightened up their game against the Express in the second set. With the score tied 16-16 following a Papoe service error, the Express rattled off the game's next four points to take a 20-16 lead. From there, the Express utilized two kills from Nipps down the stretch alongside several service errors by the Bison for the win.

Despite losing the third set by a 25-14 margin, the Express rallied in the fourth and decisive set. With the score at 21-16 in favor of the hosts, the Express used kills from junior C.J. Bayly (Waymart, Pa.) and freshman Tyler Wiley (York, Pa.) to capture the 25-17 set victory while also claiming their first match win of the day.

For Gallaudet, both Ryan Poindexter and Andrew Biskupiak led the way with six kills for the Bison. Isaac Flink set up 23 kills for the Bison while Poindexter led the way defensively with 14 digs.

The Express defeated the Wildcats by set scores of 25-18, 25-13 and 25-15 in the day's final match of the afternoon. For the Express, freshman John Farruggia (Mt. Markham, N.Y.) posted 11 kills alongside a team-best .474 hitting percentage. Nipps set up 16 of his team's 33 kills while Farruggia posted a team-best nine digs defensively.

With the third set score locked at 15-13 in favor of the host Express, Wells outscored the Wildcats by a 10-2 margin to lock down the victory. Only two kills were recorded by the Express as errors set the tone in the set's waning minutes.

Stanley McDaniel posted five of Cazenovia's 14 kills on the evening while Corey Parsons assisted nine kills. Defensively, David Markes posted seven kills in the losing effort.

The Express return to action Sunday, Mar. 3 as they host the Nittany Lions of Penn St.-Altoona at 11:00 a.m. before facing-off against the Bearcats of Rust College at 3:00 p.m. Stay up to date with the latest news directly from the Wells College athletic department by "liking" us on Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/WellsExpress) and subscribing to our Twitter account (http://www.twitter.com/WellsExpress).