Men's Volleyball Opens With Two Wins

MARCY, N.Y. – The Wentworth Institute of Technology men's volleyball team opened the 2014 campaign with a pair of victories at the SUNYIT Invitational. Wentworth swept Wells, 3-0, before defeating Hilbert by a 3-1 final. It marked the first time the Leopards had squared off against the Express and the Hawks.

Against Wells the Leopards took a 25-17 win in the opening set after forcing the Express to hitting -.038 and upped their lead to 2-0 with a 25-12 win in the second set after hitting a match-high .250 and holding Wells to -.168. The third set was tightly contested before Wentworth pulled away with the 25-20 win, marking the first time since the 2010 season the Black & Gold won their season opener.

Freshman Jake Reed (Arvada, Colo.) had an impressive debut for Wentworth, recording five kills, an attack percentage of .455, and four service aces. Junior Rami Akouri (Fall River, Mass.) had seven kills, while sophomore Elijah Egalite (Bayonne, N.J.) and freshman Sam Pisker (Mullica Hill, N.J.) recorded three kills apiece. Pisker also had four blocks on the defensive side, including three block solos. Freshman Collin Ritter (Feeding Hills, Mass.) and sophomore Bill Shimkus (Sudbury, Mass.) had 14 and eight assists, respectively.

In Wentworth's second match of the day the Leopards hit .276 as a team – including .375 in the second set – and jumped out to a 2-0 lead with set wins of25-15 and 25-10. The Hawks cut the lead to 2-1 with a 25-21 win in the third set; the lone set Hilbert did not have a negative hitting percentage. The Leopards closed out the match with a 25-14 win in the fourth set.

Reed hit .476 with 25 kills to pace the offense while Pisker added seven, and senior Ross Burdett (Needham, Mass.) chipped in with six. Freshman Alex Potts (Niverville, N.Y.) and junior Sean Donahue (Lincoln, R.I.) had five and four blocks, respectively, and Ritter had 43 assists. Sophomore Zach Newhouse (Lancaster, Calif.) had 10 digs.

The Black & Gold will square off in the championship bracket on Saturday, facing the host Wildcats at 10:00 a.m. and D'Youville at 2:00 p.m. It will mark the first time since the 2010 season the Leopards and the Wildcats will square off, while Wentworth and D'Youville, who met in the 2000 NECVA title match, will also meet for the first time since the 2010 campaign.