BOSTON, Mass. – Sophomore Jon Roat (Macedon, N.Y.) recorded 13 kills on 21 swings without making an error to hit .619 as the Wentworth Institute of Technology men's volleyball team closed out the regular season with a 3-0 win at Emerson. With the win the Leopards clinch the number one seed in the upcoming Great Northeast Athletic Conference Tournament which is slated to start on Tuesday, April 5.
Winners of a season-high six straight matches, Wentworth improves to 20-8 overall and finishes conference play with a 12-2 mark. This marked the fourth straight season the Black & Gold have hit the 20-win mark and it is the second time in the last three seasons Wentworth has earned a bye in the opening round of the tournament.
Early on it was Emerson who would capitalize on Leopard mistakes and take a 7-3 lead. However, Wentworth would close the gap to 12-11 after consecutive kills from Roat. A pair of late, 4-0 spurts by the Black & Gold gave the visitors a 20-14 lead and a kill from sophomore Sean Mullen (Longwood, Fla.) sealed the set, 25-16. In the opening set Wentworth hit .458 and forced Emerson to hit .071.
Unlike the first set, Wentworth's offense powered the Leopards to a 6-1 lead, however, Emerson clawed its way back and used a string of four straight points which made the score 8-7 after a senior Jackson Wiley (Los Angeles, Calif.) kill. Wentworth managed to give themselves some breathing room with a six-point lead thanks to a kill from junior Alex Potts (Niverville, N.Y.), but Emerson pulled within three at 18-15 on a service error. Deep into the second, the closest the Lions came to the Leopards was four. A service ace from junior Jake Reed (Arvada, Colo.) sealed Wentworth's 25-19 second set victory.
The third set was tightly contested, with neither squad holding more than a one-point lead until Wentworth took a 14-11 lead after a kill from sophomore Ollie Oshman (Pennington, N.J.). Emerson answered back with three straight points, capped off by a kill from Wiley. The score would be tied at 17-all before Wentworth scored eight of the next 11 points and closed out the match on a kill from Roat.
Mullen also recorded double figures in kills as he recorded 11 on 21 swings and committed just one attack error (.476). He also served four aces to give him a program-record 72 on the season. Reed had six kills and five blocks, Oshman had five blocks, sophomore Kevin McPeek (Bethlehem, Pa.) had 33 assists, and junior Mike Rogachefsky (Rochester, N.Y.) had 11 digs. Wentworth hit .395 as a team for the match and had nine blocks.
Sophomore Nick Rusk (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) led Emerson with nine kills and had five digs, while Wiley followed with eight kills and seven digs. Freshman Win Kittivatcharapong (Bangkok, Thailand) notched six kills and two service aces as Senior Brendon McGonigle (Los Angeles, Calif.) registered 26 helpers.
As the number one seed, the Leopards will host either fourth-seeded Emmanuel or fifth-seeded Johnson & Wales in a semifinal match on Thursday at 7:00. Emerson earned the number six seed and will be at third-seeded Rivier on Tuesday night in an opening-round match.
