Men's Volleyball 3rd Of Twelve Teams At March Mania Invite
The nationally-ranked No. 10 MIT men's volleyball team recorded its best outing at the Endicott College March Mania Invitational this past weekend as it finished in third place out of a field of 12 teams.
The Engineers (21-2) opened the tournament by defeating Villa Julie College (30-22, 30-23, 30-15) and No. 13 SUNY New Paltz (32-30, 25-30, 30-27, 23-30, 15-7). On Sunday, Tech fell to No. 7 Nazareth College (30-26, 30-32, 30-27, 30-21) in the semifinals but bounced back by sweeping Hunter College (30-22, 30-23, 30-26).
Praveen Pamidimukkala '08 was selected to the All-Tournament Team after receiving Honorable Mention plaudits last year.
Pamidimukkala posted the first of his three double-doubles during the weekend as he tallied 15 kills and 12 digs to go along with four blocks against Villa Julie. Thomas S. Pollom '09 notched 13 kills and a .706 hitting percentage in addition to a team-high three aces. Michael Demyttenaere '10 contributed nine kills and seven blocks while Philip M. Rogoz '10 totaled 36 assists, eight digs, and six blocks.
MIT's five-game victory over New Paltz extended the Engineers' winning streak to 17, which broke the previous Institute record of 16 consecutive wins set in 2005. Pamidimukkala paced Tech with 18 kills, 17 digs, and two aces while Eric R. Reuland '10 registered 14 kills and 12 digs. Pollom picked up 10 kills and four blocks as Demyttenaere led the way with six stops. Rogoz registered 42 assists and 11 digs, while Matthew Ng '08 and Ryan G. Dean '08 anchored the back line with 15 and 14 digs, respectively.
Three Engineers reached double-figures in kills in their loss to Nazareth. Pamidimukkala led the way with 17, followed by Pollom's 16 and Reuland's 13. Demyttenaere paced the blocking corps with six stops as Reuland registered a team-high eight digs. Rogoz and Dean each collected seven digs as Rogoz distributed 51 assists.
Pollom had a another strong outing against Hunter as he amassed 11 kills on 15 errorless attempts for a .733 hitting percentage and accounted for both of MIT's aces. Demyttenaere recorded 11 blocks as Dean led the Engineers with 12 digs. Pamidimukkala tallied 18 kills, 10 digs, and five blocks while Reuland added 12 kills with a .421 hitting performance. Rogoz dished out 40 assists in MIT's consolation match win.