BOSTON, Mass. – The Wentworth Institute of Technology men's volleyball team locked up the number three seed in the upcoming Great Northeast Athletic Conference Tournament with a pair of victories on Saturday. The Leopards held off a Lasell rally to defeat the Lasers, 3-2, and swept Johnson & Wales, 3-0. In the day's middle match, Lasell edged Johnson & Wales, 3-2.
WENTWORTH 3, LASELL 2
The Leopards raced out to a 2-0 lead after winning the first two games, 25-22 and 25-20. However, the Lasers rallied to take the third game, 25-19, and forced a deciding fifth game with a 26-24 win in the fourth game. Wentworth hit .450 as a team in the deciding game, taking a 15-11 decision.
For Wentworth, junior Ross Burdett (Needham, Mass.) had 19 kills and 12 digs, sophomore Sean Donahue (Lincoln, R.I.) had 18 kills, and junior Brian Mann (East Freetown, Mass.) had 14 kills, seven blocks, and hit .565 for the match. Sophomore Rami Akouri (Fall River, Mass.) chipped in with eight kills, four blocks, and 15 digs, freshman Zach Newhouse (Lancaster, Calif.) had 18 kills, and senior Tyler Moriarty (Wilbraham, Mass,) had 56 assists.
Lasell was led by senior Alex Mill (Danville, N.H.), who had 13 kills, two aces, and 20 digs. Freshman Ryan Jackson (Massillon, Ohio) had nine kills, 25 assists, six digs, and two blocks, sophomore Abdulrehman Kahn (Karacji, Pakistan) had seven kills and five blocks, and sophomore Matt Dugan (New Lenox, Ill.) had 20 assists.
LASELL 3, JOHNSON & WALES 2
In the day's middle match, the two teams traded wins as Johnson & Wales took a 1-0 lead after a 25-22 win in the opener. Lasell evened the score at a game apiece after taking a 26-24 victory in the second game. Lasell hit .261 in the third game and prevailed by a 25-16 score before the Wildcats forced the deciding game with a 25-13 win in the fourth game. In game five, Lasell would take the match with a 15-10 victory.
For the Lasers, Mill had 14 kills and seven digs, sophomore Dan Raffol (Natick, Mass.) had 11 kills, and freshman Drew Caruso (Haverhill, Mass.) had six kills and six blocks. Dugan and Jackson had 23 and 20 assists, respectively, while senior Chris Burns (Chelmsford, Mass.) had 13 digs.
The Wildcats were led by a 19-kill, three-block performance from junior Shawn Kennedy (West Barnstable, Mass., while sophomore Matt Jenkins (Damascus, Md.) had 10 kills and hit .533. Freshman Ryan Kennedy (West Barnstable, Mass.) and sophomore Don Dias (Scituate, R.I.)each had seven kills, with Dias also recording six blocks. Sophomore J.J. Bessette (Coventry, R.I.) had 45 assists.
WENTWORTH 3, JOHNSON & WALES 0
After a close, 25-23 win in the first game, the Leopards used wins of 25-14 and 25-19 to close out the match. In the second game, Wentworth hit .360 as a team and hit .308 in the third match.
Burdett led the Leopards with nine kills to go along with five digs and three blocks. Akouri, Donahue, and Mann each had eight kills and five blocks, while Newhouse had 11 digs. Freshman Bill Shimkus (Sudbury, Mass.) had three aces. Moriarty, who was honored before the game for playing in his final, regular-season home contest, had 30 assists.
Dias had eight kills for the Wildcats, while Shawn Kennedy added six kills and four blocks. Freshman Kyle Eva (Charlestown, R.I.) recorded five kills and four blocks and Bessette had 21 assists.
All three of these teams will be playing in the opening round of the GNAC Tournament Tuesday night. Third-seeded Wentworth (19-9, 10-4) will host sixth-seeded Emerson (11-16, 5-9), while fifth-seeded Lasell (13-14, 6-8) will be at fourth-seeded Johnson & Wales (12-18, 7-7).