BEVERLY, Mass. – The Wentworth Institute of Technology men's volleyball team ran its win streak to four matches and in the process improved to 11-2 on the season after sweeping a tri-match hosted by Endicott College. The Leopards cruised past Lesley, 3-0, in their first match of the day before defeating the host Gulls, 3-2. The win over Endicott snapped a 21-match losing streak against the Gulls as the Black & Gold won for the first time in the series since a 3-0 win on February 13, 2001.
Against the Lynx, Wentworth set the tone early with a 25-12 win in the opening set before holding Lesley to single digits in the next two sets, taking wins of 25-5 and 25-9. The Leopards hit .286 as a team and forced Lesley to hit -.231.
Sophomore Bill Shimkus (Sudbury, Mass.) established a new program record as he served 15 aces to go along with having three kills, 21 assists, six digs, and two blocks. Senior Brian Mann (East Freetown, Mass.) had nine kills on nine swings for a perfect attack percentage of 1.000. Sophomore Ryan Motyl (Westford, Mass.) had three aces, junior Rami Akouri (Fall River, Mass.) had four kills and seven digs, and freshman Mike Hansen (Rochester, N.Y.) had three kills and three blocks to help the balanced attack.
A tightly contested first set against the Gulls saw the hosts take a 25-20 win. Freshman Jake Reed (Arvada, Colo.) and Ross Burdett (Needham, Mass.) had five and four kills, respectively, while freshman Sam Pisker (Mullica Hill, N.J.) had five digs in the opening frame.
Wentworth evened the match at a set apiece with a 25-23 win in the second set as Burdett (five kills) and Reed (four kills) paced the offense and senior Mike Buonincontra (Shelton, Conn.) had six digs. The Leopards would take a 2-1 lead after taking a 25-20 win in the third set as junior Sean Donahue (Lincoln, R.I.) had four kills and freshman Collin Ritter (Feeding Hills, Mass.) had six digs. In both the second and third sets, the Leopards hit .212 as a team.
Endicott evened the match at 2-all after taking a 25-23 win in the fourth set, a set that saw the Leopards hit just .077 – their lowest of the match. Burdett had six kills and four digs in the set, which forced a fifth and deciding set.
In the fifth set, there were eight ties and four lead changes and Wentworth took the lead for good at 11-10 after the Gulls committed an attack error. The Leopards ran their lead to 14-10 before a service error pulled Endicott within three at 14-11. After a Wentworth time out, the Gulls committed a service error of their own to give the Black & Gold a 15-11 win and the victory.
Burdett led the way with 20 kills, eight digs, and four blocks while Reed added 15 kills, eight digs, and a pair of blocks. Pisker had a double-double with 11 kills and 12 digs to go along with a pair of blocks. Ritter had 52 assists and 13 digs, Buonincontra added 17 digs and Donahue had six blocks.
Wentworth resumes Great Northeast Athletic Conference play Wednesday night when the Leopards host Lasell.