WESTON, Mass. – The Wentworth Institute of Technology used set scores of 25-8, 25-21, and 25-20 to sweep Regis College, 3-0, in non-conference men's volleyball action on Thursday night in Weston, Mass. The Leopards improve to 9-2 overall, while the Pride fall back to .500 at 5-5.
The opening set started out as a back and forth battle as Zach Sindoni (Haverhill, Mass.) tied the score at 3-3 with his first kill of the day. On the next serve, a Ross Burdett (Needham, Mass.) kill sparked a 13-1 run for the Leopards that put WIT on top at 16-4. Sam Pisker (Mullica Hill, N.J.) had five service aces during the run, and Wentworth closed the set on an 8-1 run to take game one 25-8. The Leopards swung .500 in the first set, with Pisker picking up four kills and hitting .800.
Regis struck first in the second set as kills from Sindoni and Joe Hanrahan (Coventry, R.I.) were a part of a 5-1 run that was capped off by a Sindoni ace to give the home team a 10-6 lead. Wentworth fought their way back into the game, tying it at 13-all on a Pisker kill, and eventually scoring five consecutive points to overtake the Pride at 16-13. The two teams traded points before a Joe Coye (Plaistow, N.H.) block followed by a Sean Bisnett (Oxnard, Calif.) kill made it a 22-20 game. Burdett answered with a pair of kills and Collin Ritter (Feeding Hills, Mass.) ended the second game with a kill of his own to take the second game 25-21.
The Pride held an early 5-2 lead in the final set following a pair of WIT errors, and Bisnett gave Regis an 8-7 lead minutes later with another kill. Wentworth answered with a 6-2 run to take a 13-9 lead before Bisnett registered another kill to keep it a 13-10 contest. The Leopards held a late 20-16 lead, but Regis cut the deficit to 21-20 with a pair of WIT errors and a kill and service ace from Bisnett that forced a Wentworth timeout. Wentworth responded to the break in action as they closed the game with four-straight points, earning the 3-0 sweep with a 25-20 win.
Wentworth was led by 11 kills from Pisker, who also added six service aces. Burdett had nine kills and five aces, while Rami Akouri (Fall River, Mass.) and Sean Donahue (Lincoln, R.I.) added four kills apiece. Donohue also added a pair of aces to go with a match-high five blocks. Ritter dished out 33 assists and the Leopards defense was led by six digs apiece from Mike Buonincontra (Shelton, Conn.) and Zach Newhouse (Lancaster, Calif.)
Bisnett led the Regis attack with 12 kills, hitting .476 on the night. Sindoni added seven kills and five digs to go with three service aces, while Evan Stone (Stockton, Calif.) had three kills and three digs in the setback. Hanrahan set up the Pride offense with 22 assists, and also chipped in five digs.
Regis returns to action on Saturday afternoon when they host Anna Maria College for the second time this season at 1:00 p.m. Wentworth travels to Endicott College for a tri-match with Lesley University starting at 2:00 p.m.
(Recap courtesy of Regis sports information)
