The Southern Vermont College (SVC) Men’s Volleyball Team secured the second seed in the New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) on March 28th, by sweeping Lesly University 3-0. That same night, the Mountaineers also broke the volleyball’s single season wins record by moving to 14-6 in overall and 8-2 in the NECC.
It is the first time in program history that the Mountaineers will enter the NECC Volleyball Tournament in second place.
The 2015 SVC volleyball season brought much excitement to SVC Athletics but it brought much more joy to this year’s volleyball seniors.
Senior, Joey Dighton had much to express about this year’s Mountaineer squad. “I am very happy with how this team has played! We have proven we can play with the tough teams and we give people a show with all the different weapons we have on this team. This team is by far the best team, record wise and attitude wise. I love these guys and the connection on the court is unreal. I am proud to have played with these guys for my final year!”
Dighton will finish this season with many accomplishments. He is now the all time leader in blocks and second in kills for the Mountaineers. This season he was able to reach the 1,000 point mark. He still has the opportunity to make that point count higher with a few games still left in season. He has also been awarded the NECC Player of the Week three times this season.
Dighton has worked hard all season to reach his perfect ending to his last season. Dighton’s would love to defeat first seeded Endicott College in the NECC Volleyball Tournament and move onto the Division III National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Volleyball Tournament.
Dighton states, “The perfect ending would be sweeping Endicott on their home court for the championship and leaving their home fans shocked. I think if we sweep Endicott we are not only sending a message to other teams but it will give us some fire heading into NCAA tournament!”
Since the Endicott College Gulls joined the NECC in 2012, they have become the team to beat in the NECC. They have only lost one game since becoming a part of the NECC. That lost was given to them by the SVC Mountaineers. Since then, a huge rivalry has grown between the two volleyball programs.
The Mountaineers will battle for glory when they travel down to Endicott College on April 10th to finish out the NECC 2015 season and to try and make a bid to the Division III NCAA Tournament.