Men's Volleyball Splits at Vassar

POUGHKEEPSIE, N.Y. – Junior Tyler Moriarty (Wilbraham, Mass.) recorded 49 assists in two matches and in the process became the Wentworth men's volleyball program's all-time assist leader as the Leopards split a pair of matches at Vassar, downing CCNY by a 3-0 score before falling to the host Brewers by an identical score.

Moriarty's 2,235 assists breaks the previous mark of 2,212, set by Luis DaSilva, who played for the Leopards from 1998-2001.

The Black & Gold set the tone early against CCNY, taking the first game by a 25-13 score and would increase their lead to 2-0 with a 25-18 win in the second game, a game that featured four ties and saw Wentworth hit a match-high .323. Wentworth closed out the match in three games with a 25-19 win.

Sophomore Ross Burdett (Needham, Mass.) recorded a double-double with 15 kills and 10 digs, followed by classmate Mike Buonincontra (Shelton, Conn.), whose hitting percentage of .529 included 10 kills. Buonincontra also added eight digs. Sophomore Brian Mann (East Freetown, Mass.) and freshman Rami Akouri (Fall River, Mass.) each added seven kills, with Akouri also having seven digs. Freshman Israel Shaw (New Ipswich, N.H.) had four kills and team-high four blocks, while Moriarty had 34 assists and nine digs.

Against 10^th-ranked Vassar, the Leopards dropped the first game by a 25-21 score. This would be the only game the Leopards would have a positive hitting percentage as the Black & gold hit .162 in the tightly contested game.

The Brewers took a 2-0 lead with a 25-17 lead and carried that momentum over to the third game where they would jump out to an early lead and never look back with a 25-13 win. In the third game Vassar hit .400 as a team, while Wentworth hit -.044.

Burdett had a team-high nine kills to go along with three blocks, while Akouri chipped in with five kills and nine digs. Buonincontra played solid defense, recording seven digs and Moriarty had 15 assists and eight digs.

Wentworth sits at 8-5 overall and returns to action on Tuesday, March 13 when the Leopards host Albertus Magnus.