BEVERLY, Mass. – The Wheaton College (Mass.) men's volleyball team was defeated by host Endicott College, 3-0 (25-14, 25-15, 25-17) in the second contest of a tri-match this afternoon at Macdonald Gymnasium in Beverly, Mass.

The Lyons drop to 8-11, while the Gulls, who received votes in the most recent American Volleyball Coaches Association national poll, win their 15th straight contest to improve to 16-3.

Endicott owned a 7-1 disparity in service aces and hit a robust .315 for the match, while Wheaton posted a .157 hitting mark.

First year outside hitter R. Bennett Chiappetta (Middlefield, Conn.) led the Lyons with nine kills, nine digs and a pair of blocks, while sophomore outside hitter Connor Lloyd (Swansea, Mass.) put down eight kills and picked up five digs. First year setter Jacob Hoy (Essex Junction, Vt.) set for 17 assists, picked up three digs and got up for a block. 

Senior outside hitter Aidan Iacovelli (South Windsor, Conn.) led all players with a match- high 18 kills and added five digs. Senior outside hitter Jake Laborde (Brookline, N.H.) swung for nine kills and added 10 digs for his second double-double of the season and junior libero Dan Battista (Bethlehem, N.Y.) got down for a match-best 13 digs. Junior setter Matty Tiernan (Bradford, R.I.) directed the offense for the Gulls with 35 assists and added five digs and a block solo.

Endicott scored four of the first five points of the opening set to take a 4-1 lead. Wheaton answered with three of the next four, capped by a kill from first year middle blocker Jeremy Bullard-Smith (Boston, Mass.) to pull within a point at 5-4. Iacovelli put down a kill to expand the Gulls' lead to 9-5, before sophomore right side hitter Jack Kenyon (Westerly, R.I.) put down a kill as part of a three-point stretch for the Lyons to keep them within a point at 9-8 Endicott pulled away for good after scoring seven of the next eight points, punctuated by an Iacovelli kill to give the home team a 16-9 advantage. Wheaton cut the margin to 18-13, but the Gulls went on a 7-1 run, capped by a Laborde ace to give them match point and a 1-0 lead in the contest.

Bullard-Smith put down a kill to give the Lyons an 8-7 edge in the middle frame, before Endicott put together a 10-3 outburst, fueled by three kills from Iacovelli, to take a 17-11 lead. Kenyon spiked for a kill to pull the Lyons within 18-13, the Gulls finished off the set with a 7-2 run that included the set-point kill from Iacovelli to give Endicott a 2-0 match lead.

Sophomore middle blocker Jackson Gray (Glenmont, N.Y.) put down a kill and fired an ace to cap an 8-2 start for Endicott in the third frame. Wheaton answered by scoring six of the next eight points behind a pair of kills from Lloyd, to cut the difference to 10-8. Once again, the Gulls were able to put distance between themselves and the Lyons with an 8-3 burst that featured four kills from Iacovelli, to take an 18-11 lead. Bullard-Smith put away a kill for the Lyons to keep them within five at 19-14, but the Gulls finished strong again and took the set and the match following another kill from Iacovelli for a 25-17 set victory.

Wheaton returns to the court on Saturday, March 21 when it hosts Hobart College at 11:00 a.m. at Emerson Gymnasium as part of a tri-match with Lasell University, while Endicott hosts State University of New York Potsdam on March 21 at 1:00 p.m.