UNION, N.J. – Junior Alex Potts (Niverville, N.Y.) earned a spot on the all-tournament team after recording 22 kills and three blocks as the Wentworth Institute of Technology split a pair of matches against nationally ranked foes, defeating No. 11 Baruch, 3-0, before falling to No. 5 Rutgers-Newark, 3-1, at the 2016 Clash at Kean.

WENTWORTH 3, No. 11 BARUCH 0
Wentworth knocked off its second nationally ranked opponent in a four-day span by sweeping the Bearcats, 25-14, 25-20, and 29-27. In the opening set the Leopards hit .433 and forced Baruch to hit -.038 as sophomore Sean Mullen (Longwood, Fla.) had seven kills, Potts added four kills, and sophomore Jon Roat (Macedon, N.Y.) had three kills and two blocks.

Mullen's four kills and three blocks in the second set helped pace the Leopards as he received help form junior Jake Reed (Arvada, Colo.) who had three kills and junior Mike Hansen (Rochester, N.Y.) who had two kills and two blocks.

In the third set the Leopards took a 17-10 lead on a kill from Roat, however the Bearcats would use a 14-7 run to tie the set at 24. Each team committed a service error to even the score at 25 and the two teams would commit errors to make it 26 all. A service error gave Wentworth a 27-26 lead, however Baruch responded with a kill to tie the score once again. A kill from Reed and a Bearcat attack error completed the Leopards sweep.

Mullen had 12 kills and three blocks, Roat had 10 kills and two blocks, Potts had nine kills, and Reed had eight kills. Hansen hit .500 (6-0-12) for the match. Sophomore Kevin McPeek (Bethlehem, Pa.) had 34 assists and seven digs.

No. 5 RUTGERS-NEWARK 3, WENTWORTH 1
In a tightly contested match, the Scarlet Raiders remained undefeated by taking a 25-19, 25-19, 23-25, 25-19 victory. Rutgers-Newark hit .583 in the opening set, committing just one attack error on 24 swings. For Wentworth, Roat had six kills in the opening set while Potts had five on six swings. The first set featured 13 ties and two lead changes as the Scarlet Raiders took the lead for good at 19-18.

Much like the first set, the second set saw 12 ties and five lead changes with neither team holding a lead larger than two for the majority of the set. A Potts kills pulled Wentworth to within one at 19-18, however Rutgers-Newark scored six of the next seven points to take the set 25-19. Potts and Reed each had three kills in the set while senior Zach Newhouse (Lancaster, Calif.) had two aces.

Wentworth extended the match with a victory in the third set, which featured 17 ties and seven lead changes. The Leopards had taken a 23-22 lead after an attack error, however a Scarlet Raider kill tied the set for the final time as a service error and an attack error gave the Black & Gold the win. Reed had six kills while Potts and Mullen had three kills apiece in the set. Mullen also had two aces and two blocks.

The Leopards looked to send the match to a fifth set and had a fine offensive performance, hitting .538, however Rutgers-Newark, which hit .490 for the match, hit .630 in the set. The Scarlet Knights took the lead for good 15-14 and led 22-18 before a Reed kill made it 22-19. Three straight kills would end the match.

Reed had 15 kills and hit .429 (15-3-28). Potts made just one attack error on 19 swings (13-1-19) to hit .632 and also recorded two blocks. Roat had 10 kills and two aces.

Wentworth sits at 5-3 and travels to Endicott on Wednesday night.