BOSTON, Mass. – For the second time in the last three seasons, the Wentworth Institute of Technology men's volleyball team has been selected to participate in the ECAC Division III Men's Volleyball Championships. The Leopards (19-10) have earned the number three seed and will square off against second-seeded Elmira (19-15) in a semifinal match on Saturday afternoon at The Sage Colleges in Troy, N.Y.
Wentworth's match is slated for a 1:00 p.m. first serve and follows the day's first match, which features top-seeded Sage (28-7) against fourth-seeded Daniel Webster (15-12) at 11:00 a.m. The two winners will meet in the championship match, which is slated for 4:00 p.m.
Under the direction of second-year head coach Evin Giglio, the Leopards' 19 wins are tied for the second-most in program history, matching the 19-8 mark during the 2000 campaign. Wentworth finished third in the Great Northeast Athletic Conference with a 10-4 mark, but was upset in the first round of the GNAC Tournament by sixth-seeded Emerson, 3-2. The 19 wins are also one shy of the program record, set during the 2011 campaign.
Junior Ross Burdett (Needham, Mass.) leads the way for the Black & Gold as he has recorded 295 kills, an attack percentage of .269, 22 service aces, and 132 digs. He was named, for the second season in a row, to the GNAC All-Conference Team. Classmate Brian Mann (East Freetown, Mass.) has 18 kills and 97 blocks and was also selected to the GNAC All-Conference team. Senior Tyler Moriarty (Wilbraham, Mass.) earned a spot on the all-conference team as well, as he has recorded 904 assists, 34 service aces, and 164 digs.
Among the most recent Division III national leaders, Moriarty ranks 15th in assists per game and 41st in aces per game, Burdett ranks 27th in kills per game and 40th in points per game, and Mann ranks 16th in blocks per game.
Sophomore Sean Donahue (Lincoln, R.I.) is currently ranked ninth in Division III with a .404 attack percentage and has recorded 220 kills and 76 blocks. Classmate Rami Akouri (Fall River, Mass.) has 194 kills, 173 digs, and 79 blocks. Akouri ranks 39th in blocks per game, while fresman Zach Newhouse, who has 238 digs, ranks 27th in digs per game among Division III men's volleyball players.
As a team the Leopards' .258 attack percentage ranks 10th among Division III men's volleyball programs, while their .655 winning percentage ranks 15th, 10.1 digs per game ranks them 19th, 11.88 kills per game ranks them 21st, 1.48 aces per game ranks them 22nd, and 10.67 assists per game ranks them 23rd.
This is the first-ever meeting between Wentworth and Elmira, and should the Leopards advance to the finals, it will be the first-ever meeting against Sage or the 17th meeting all-time against Daniel Webster. The Leopards and the Eagles played twice this season, with each team winning by a 3-0 score.
Wentworth's only other ECAC men's volleyball bid came in 2011 when the Leopards fell, 3-0, to Endicott in the semifinals.
