BOSTON, Mass. – Freshman Nate Perry (New Bedford, Mass.) and sophomore Ross Burdett (Needham, Mass.) each recorded double-doubles with 13 kills and 11 digs and 12 kills and 13 digs, respectively, as the Wentworth men's volleyball team snapped a five-match losing streak with a 3-1 win over Lasell.
Game one was all Lasell early as the Lasers jumped out to a 5-0 lead, thanks in part to a pair of Leopard errors and a pair of sophomore Tim Anderson (Plaistow, N.H.) kills. The Lasers led, 6-1 after an attack error, but Wentworth scored the next four points to cut the lead to 6-5. Lasell built its lead back up to 11-6 and led, 14-11, before four straight points by Wentworth gave the hosts a 15-14 lead. After the two teams traded points, Lasell went on a 9-1 run to end the game, winning by a 25-17 score.
The early stages of the second game saw four ties, including when the Lasers battled back from a 5-3 deficit to tie the game on a Leopard attack error. A pair of Perry kills put Wentworth on top, 7-5, and the Leopards found themselves leading by as many as five, including at 18-13, en route to a 25-18 win. Perry had six of his team's 10 kills during the frame.
Wentworth raced out to a 6-1 lead in the third game before the Lasers took advantage of three Leopard miscues and used a solid offensive attack to eventually tie the game at 10-all on a freshman Abdulrehman Khan (Karachi, Pakistan) kill. Three straight Lasell errors gave Wentworth a 13-10 lead, but the Lasers would not go away quietly, pulling within a point three times, including at 16-15. The Leopards scored the next three points to build the lead back to four (19-15) before an error and a Khan kill made it a two-point game. Lasell would pull within two on one more occasion (22-20), but Wentworth scored the game's final three points to take a 2-1 lead with a 25-20 win.
Neither team seized momentum in the early stages of the fourth game, a game that saw nine ties before Wentworth pulled ahead, 14-11. However, the Lasers scored four of the next five points to tie the game for the 10th time at 15-15. The Leopards countered with the next four points, with two coming from Burdett kills, and took a19-15 lead. Lasell came as close as three twice, including at 21-18 on a freshman Matt Dugan (New Lenox, Ill.) kill, but Wentworth took the game, 25-19, and the match, 3-1.
In addition to Perry and Burdett, freshman Rami Akouri (Fall River, Mass.) had five kills, four blocks, and 10 digs, while freshman Israel Shaw (New Ipswich, N.H.) had five kills and four blocks. Junior Tyler Moriarty (Wilbraham, Mass.) had 20 assists and sophomore Mike Buonincontra (Shelton, Conn.) recorded three kills, two blocks, 14 digs, and 17 assists.
Anderson led the Lasers with 11 kills and hit .409, while freshman Dan Raffol (Natick, Mass.) added 10 kills of his own and junior Alex Mill (Danville, N.H.) chipped in with nine. Sophomore Vicente Ithier (Newington, Conn.) had 19 digs while junior Chris Burns (Chelmsford, Mass.) and Mill had 11 and 10 digs, respectively. Khan finished with five blocks and Dugan had 37 assists.
With the win the Leopards improve to 11-10 overall and 6-3 in GNAC play. The Leopards host Emerson on Thursday. Lasell, which dropped its second straight to stand at 9-13 (3-8) is also in action on Thursday, hosting Rivier.
