NEWTON, Mass. – Paced by seven kills apiece from junior Mike Hansen (Rochester, N.Y.), sophomore Sean Mullen (Longwood, Fla.), and sophomore Lucas Grevers (Norwalk, Conn.) the Wentworth Institute of Technology men's volleyball team snapped a two-match losing streak with a 3-0 win at Mount Ida in Great Northeast Athletic Conference play.
With the win the Leopards improve to 15-8 overall and 7-2 in league play while the Mustangs fall to 6-16 (1-7).
The opening set saw the hosts take a 10-9 lead before four straight Wentworth points – capped off by a service ace from junior Alex Potts (Niverville, N.Y.) – gave Wentworth a 13-10 lead. However, Mount Ida scored three of the next four points and evened the score at 14-all on a Brett Southworth kill. A service error gave the Leopards a 15-14 lead and Mullen served consecutive aces to push the lead to three. Wentworth's lead increased to four (19-15) on a senior Ryan Motyl (Westford, Mass.) ace, however the Mustangs scored three of the next four points to pull within a pair before the Leopards closed out the set with a 25-20 win.
Wentworth hit .500 in the second set while holding Mount Ida to an attack percentage of .000. However, it was the Mustangs who started out hot, taking a 4-0 lead and holding a 10-8 advantage before Wentworth used a 7-1 run to lead 15-11. After Mount Ida ended the Leopards' four consecutive points, the Black & Gold rolled off seven straight points to take a 22-12 lead and never looked back, taking the second set by a 25-13 score.
With the score tied at 4-all, the Leopards took the lead for good in the third set with four straight points, which included a pair of aces from freshman Colton Burnham (Salem, N.H.). Mount Ida pulled within a point at 13-12, however four straight Leopard points pushed the lead to 17-12. Mount Ida scored three of the next four points to pull within three at 18-15 but that would be as close as the hosts would get as the Leopards closed out the match with a 7-3 run.
Grevers, who hit .667, also served three aces and had a pair of blocks while Mullen had two aces and three blocks and Hansen had four blocks. Junior Paul Cooke (Ridgefield, Conn.) had 28 assists and senior Zach Newhouse (Lancaster, Calif.) had eight digs.
Wentworth is at Johnson & Wales on Tuesday night.
