Boston, Mass. – Junior Rami Akouri's (Fall River, Mass.) four kills, two solo blocks and five block assists led the Wentworth Institute of Technology men's volleyball team to a 3-0 (25-15, 25-21, 25-21) victory over Albertus Magnus in Great Northeast Atlantic Conference action Tuesday evening.
Winners of three in a row, the victory improves the Leopards' record to 18-7 overall and 8-2 in the GNAC. With the loss, Albertus Magnus drops to 8-8 and 2-8 in conference play.
The two teams began the match tied at six, but a 4-0 spurt gave the Leopards a 10-6 lead which forced a Falcons' timeout. After the stoppage, the teams split the next eight points, making the score 13-9. Freshman Alex Potts (Niverville, N.Y.) recorded a kill from the middle to extend the Leopard lead to 15-10 and senior Ross Burdett (Needham, Mass.) followed with an ace to increase the led to six at 16-10.
Freshman Jake Reed (Arvada, Colo.) finished a kill from the left side with the Leopards holding a 19-12 advantage, to give the Black & Gold an eight-point lead. Reed then stepped to the service line and junior Sean Donahue (Lincoln, R.I.) supported him with back-to-back blocks giving the Leopards a 24-13 edge. The Falcons added two points but the set would end on a service error, 25-15.
Albertus Magnus responded in the second set and jumped out to a 5-3 lead. The Falcons would keep their lead until Burdett tied the set at7-all with a kill from the left side. Freshman Raul Rivera Rojas (Vega Baja, P.R.)then gave his team another two point advantage at 10-8 with a kill from the middle and classmate Joshua Turner (Trumbull, Conn.) followed with a block to make the score 11-8.
With Albertus Magnus holding a 13-11 advantage, sophomore Bill Shimkus (Sudbury, Mass.) nailed an ace down the right side and Donahue and Akouri followed with two more blocks to give the Leopards their first lead at 15-13, forcing a Falcons' timeout. After the timeout, the Leopards extended their lead to 19-16 behind solid service from Reed. Wentworth then pushed the set to the brink with a kill from Donahue making the score 24-20. The Falcons added one more point but freshman Collin Ritter (Feeding Hills, Mass.) ended the set 25-21 with a block.
Reed ended a 5-5 stalemate in the third set with a kill, set up by Ritter. But the Falcons battled back and tied the set at 8-all. Ritter then beat the Albertus Magnus defense across the court to give the Black & Gold a one-point lead at 9-8. Burdett followed with a tip and the Leopards held a 10-8 advantage. Once again the Falcons bounced back and tied the set at 10-all.
Wentworth then took four of the next five points to take a 14-11 lead. Albertus Magnus would take six of the next 11 points to get the score to 19-17, but Akouri ended the run with a kill from the left side to give Wentworth a three point lead at 20-17. Akouri struck again with a kill from the right side and the Leopards held a 22-19 lead. Albertus would continue to fight but the Leopards held them off for the 25-21 victory.
To go along with Akouri's four kills, Potts and Donahue added eight each to go along with eight combined block assists. Reed also had eight kills with three digs and an ace. Burdett recorded seven kills, four digs and two aces while Ritter notched 29 assists and six digs in the victory.
Rojas finished 16 kills to lead his team and also added two digs and two block assists. Senior Brendan Charamut (Southington, Conn.) had 11 kills, two digs and three block assists while freshman Glenn Johnson (Newinton, Conn.) recorded four kills and two digs. Classmate Raymond Torres (Cantano, P.R.) had 32 assists in the loss.
The Leopards travel to Anna Maria on Thursday March 27, while the Falcons host Johnson & Wales that same day.
