Club volleyball takes second at N.E. championship

Posted 4/3/14

The CCRI men’s club volleyball team traveled to University of New Hampshire in Durham, N.H. recently to compete in the New England Club Volleyball League (NECVL) Division II Championship. The …

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Club volleyball takes second at N.E. championship

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The CCRI men’s club volleyball team traveled to University of New Hampshire in Durham, N.H. recently to compete in the New England Club Volleyball League (NECVL) Division II Championship. The Knights came into the tournament ranked seventh. However, after and undefeated the first day, CCRI was the No. 1 seed going into the playoffs and ended up finishing in second place overall behind Tufts University, which came into the tournament as the top seed.

With a 33-match season playing in both the NECVL and versus NCAA teams, the CCRI Knights’ team entered the championships with plenty of experience. On the first day, the Knights went undefeated.  First they defeated University of New England 25-15 and 25-22 before taking down the University of New Haven 25-23, 25-27 and 15-7. The Knights later defeated Fairfield University 19-25, 25-22 and 15-8 and ended the perfect day by taking down Sacred Heart University 25-13 and 25-17. 

To begin day two, the Knights had the home-court advantage and defeated Bryant University in the quarterfinals 25-13 and 25-17. They advanced the semifinals where the defeated Holy Cross 25-22 and 25-23 to advance to the NECVL championship against undefeated Tufts.

Unfortunately for the nights, they couldn’t finish off the championship, losing to Tufts 17-25 and 23-25. The Knights ended their great season with a 13-4 NECVL record.

Leading the way for the Knights were Brendan Baker (North Kingstown) and Tommy Reyes (Providence), who both earned All-Tournament honors. Baker had 81 kills and two aces on the day while Reyes had seven kills, three aces and led the Knights’ offense with 165 assists.

Also helping CCRI was Brandon Tordoff (Coventry), who had 36 kills and six aces, Shawn Mulso (Scituate), who had 16 kills and two aces, and Elson Abotsi (Pawtucket), who had 26 kills.  Chris Maiello (Scituate) had seven kills, while Jeff Ramos (Pawtucket), Chris Fitta (Warwick), and Chris Weston (West Warwick) combined for 106 digs.

“I’m so proud of this year’s team,” said head coach Anne-Maria Balboni. “It’s a long season when you are in it, but in the end it was great to see all the hard work pay off.”

Baseball wins home opener

The CCRI Knights used a 13-hit barrage to defeat rival Dean College 12-1 Saturday afternoon in their opener at Fell Field. With the win, CCRI improved to 5-3 on the season. Game two of the doubleheader was rained out.

Sophomore shortstop Ryan O’Dell (Lincoln) led the Knights’ offense with a 4-for-4 day at the plate, while coming around to score all four times he was on base and driving in one run as well.

The Knights chased Dean’s starting pitcher out after one inning, batting through the order and establishing a 3-0 lead. From there the Knights’ offense didn’t let up, stretching its lead to 6-0 before breaking the game open with a six-run bottom of the sixth, highlighted by an inside the park three-run home run by Joe Yankee (Lincoln).

Sophomore catcher Ryan Wordell (Little Compton) had two hits and drove in two runs for the Knights, while centerfielder Eddie Apice (North Kingstown) chipped in with three RBI.

Jake Tillman (Scituate) was outstanding on the mound for the Knights, working six innings and allowing just one run while striking out four. With the win, Tillman improved to 2-0 on the season. Ryan Faria (Cranston) came on in relief to close the game and struck out two in a scoreless seventh inning.

CCRI battles tough wind at Bridgewater State meet

The CCRI Knights and Lady Knights outdoor track teams traveled to Bridgewater State University to compete in the Bridgewater State University Bears Invitational last week. With wind gusts up to 30 mph, the Knights and Lady Knights got the spring season under way.

For the Lady Knights, Shenelle Teixeira (Barrington) placed second in the 400 hurdles with a time of 1:09.70. Teixeira also placed 13th in the 100 dash in a time of 14.20 seconds. Teondra Silva (Barrington) took sixth place in the long jump with a 4.55-meter leap. Silva placed 12th in the 200 dash with a time of 29.07 seconds as well, while also placing 30th in the 100 dash with a time of 15.27 seconds.

For the Knights, freshman Steven Croft (Warwick) placed 12th in the 100 dash with a time of 12.34 seconds. Freshman John Vicario (Johnston) placed 38th in the 100 with a time of 14.02 seconds. Sophomore thrower Kevin Redmond (South Kingstown) placed 20th in the shot put with a toss of 10.67-meters, and he placed 25th in the discus with a throw of 25.48-meters. Middle-distance specialist Britton Laney (Pascoag) placed 27th in the 1,500in a time of 4:57.16, followed by Joseph Gareri (Uxbridge, Mass.), who placed 32nd in a time of 5:02.46. Both times were career-bests for Laney and Gareri. The two came back to compete in the 800, with Laney placing 27th in a time of 2:23.66 and Gareri tying his career-best in a time of 2:26.78. Rounding out the Knights runners was Nelson Moreno (Pawtucket.), who also ran his best time in the 800, placing 38th in a time of 2:35.73.

The next meet for CCRI will be Saturday when they will travel to UMass-Dartmouth to compete in the UMass-Dartmouth Corsair Classic. 

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