BOSTON, Mass. – Freshmen Sean Mullen (Longwood, Fla.) and Jon Roat (Macedon, N.Y.) each led the Leopards with nine kills, as the Wentworth Institute of Technology defeated Lasell College 3-0 in Great Northeast Athletic Conference play Tuesday night at Tansey Gymnasium.
The Leopards improve to 7-2 (2-0 GNAC) while extending its winning streak against the Lasers to seven games. Lasell suffers its first loss of the year, as they are now 7-1 (0-1).
Lasell jumped ahead by four in the opening set, with sophomore Patrick MacDonald (Floral Park, N.Y.) contributing with a three of kills to put the visitors ahead. Wentworth climbed back by taking advantage of attack errors on the other side to tie the set at 17-all. Three separate Leopards earned kills for the final points of the first to give the Leopards the 25-20 set victory.
The Lasers once again marched ahead of the Leopards and held a pair of six-point leads, including at 14-8. Junior Jeffrey Vautrin (Chicopee, Mass.) had seven kills in the set to push the Lasers forward. However, the Leopards strung together a 12-4 run to make a second comeback and take the set 25-23. Sophomore Alex Potts (Niverville, N.Y.) was one of three Wentworth players with three kills in the second set and had seven kills on eight swings through the first two sets.
With the score tied at four, the Black and Gold went on a 9-2 run to lead 13-6 in the third set. Mullen's two service aces helped kick start the run. Potts and classmate Jake Reed (Arvada, Colo.) added a pair of kills towards the end of the set before a Lasell attack error ended the set 25-17 and gave Wentworth the victory.
Mullen also had and pair of aces and seven digs while Roat added a pair of blocks to pace the Leopards. Potts finished with eight kills on nine swings, hitting .889 and also contributed three blocks. Reed added seven kills and sophomore Collin Ritter (Feeding Hills, Mass.) had 31 assists, six digs, and four blocks. Wentworth hit .321 as a team.
Vautrin hit .458 with 15 kills, two aces, seven digs, and two blocks. Senior Dan Raffol (Natick, Mass.) had seven kills and five digs, freshman Alex Moule (Rockaway Beach, N.Y.) had eight digs. Junior Andrew Glenn (Westport, Conn.) had 28 assists.
Wentworth continues conference play on Thursday, when the Black and Gold travel to Emerson for a 6 p.m. match. Lasell makes the trip to Kean University for The Clash at Kean tournament on Friday against Stevens.
