BOSTON, Mass. - A 26 kill, 15 dig performance from senior Barrett Wingard (York, Pa.) helped lift Emmanuel College over the Wentworth Institute of Technology men's volleyball team in five sets, 3-2, in a Great Northeast Athletic Conference contest played at the Jean Yawkey Center on Thursday night.
The Saints improve to 12-9 overall and 2-5 in the GNAC, while the Leopards drop to 14-8 and 6-2 in conference play.
Emmanuel held offense control through the entire first set as the Saints snagged the 25-20 victory and took the 1-0 lead over Wentworth. The Leopards tallied three straight kills to bring them within two of the Saints, but a kill from senior Garrett McGarry (Chicago, Ill.) sealed Emmanuel's 25-20 win.
Wentworth bounced back in the second set with the 25-20 triumph to tie the match at 1-1. Wentworth led through the early positions of the second before an attack error and kill by senior Julian Hess (Santa Monica, Calif.) allowed Emmanuel their first lead of the set at 9-8. On a 4-1 run with kills from junior Jake Reed (Arvada, Colo.) and sophomore Jon Roat (Macedon, N.Y.), the Leopards increased their lead to 13-11. The Saints, however, roared back with six straight points to take the 17-14 lead, but sophomore Ollie Oshman's (Pennington, N.J.) kill was the equalizer at 17-17. An attack error committed by the Saints allowed the Leopards to take the second set victory.
The Leopards powered a 25-20 third set victory to take the 2-1 advantage.
Wingard's three kills allowed the Saints to take the quick 9-1 edge over the Leopards early on in the fourth set. Despite playing from behind, Wentworth surged in the later portion of the set as an attack error committed by Emmanuel allowed the Leopards to take its first lead at 24-23, followed by a kill from sophomore Kevin McPeek (Bethlehem, Pa.) that squared the score at 25-25. Emmanuel tacked on two consecutive points to take the 27-25 win and tie the match at 2-2.
The game entered a fifth set where the teams went back-and-forth, neither team having a more than two-point lead. The Leopards registered a point on an attack error by the Saints defense to bring the score to 13-12. However, two straight kills from Wingard and senior Drew Jordan (Braintree, Mass.) closed the book on Wentworth as Emmanuel took the set, 15-12, and the 3-2 conference triumph.
Roat led the Leopards' offense with 19 kills. Along with Roat, both Reed (15) and sophomore Sean Mullen (Longwood, Fla.) (11) each racked up double-digits in kills as well. Mullen led with 22 digs, while McPeek tallied 53 helpers.
Wingard powered out 26 kills and 12 digs for the Saints, while freshman Erik English (Simi Valley, Calif.) registered 16 kills, followed senior Kevin Gallegos (Los Angeles, Calif.) with 15 digs and junior Jorge Rojas (San Juan, Puerto Rico) with 43 helpers.
Wentworth continue GNAC play as they take on Mount Ida on Saturday at 12:00 p.m.
