BOSTON, Mass. – The Wentworth Institute of Technology men's volleyball team swept Eastern Nazarene College (25-13, 25-7, 25-18) in non-conference action on Wednesday evening.
The Leopards improve to 11-6 overall, and 7-1 at home, while the Lions drop to 8-12.
Wentworth pounced to a fast start in the first set, hitting .500 as a team, as junior Augusto Rodriguez-Guerrios (San Juan, P.R.) turned an 8-7 lead into a 16-7 advantage with three aces along the way. The Leopards committed just one error in the set, and rode momentum into the second frame, jumping to an early 10-1 lead with freshman Drew Potter (Towson, Md.) on the serve. The Lions were only able to score six more points in the middle set, two of which were kills from James Hoops (Lenexa, Kan.). The Lions showed fight in the final set, closing within three points after a Tim Eddings (Endicott, N.Y.) ace,15-12. Wentworth however never surrendered the lead and pulled away with a 10-6 run.
Juniors Ryan Love (Gaithersburg, Md.) and freshman Ian Carlson (Parker, Colo. led the Leopard offense with five kills apiece, while love hit .625 with no errors on eight swings. Rodriguez-Guerrios and freshman Connor Adams (Budd Lake, N.J.) split setter duties with 15 and 11 assists, respectively, while Garrett Vermeulen (Fairport, N.Y.) and Peter Klembczyk (Penfield, N.Y.) each had six digs.
For the Lions, James Garofalo (Commack, N.Y.) paced the offense with six kills and .500 hitting with one error on 10 attempts. All but one Lion recorded at least a single dig, while Brandon Jenkins (Norton, Mass.) dished out 10 assists.
Wentworth returns to Tansey Gym on Saturday for a crucial tri-match with Rivier and Johnson & Wales. The battle of the undefeated league teams starts at 11:00 a.m. between the Leopards and reigning conference champion Rivier.
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