MARCY, N.Y. – The Wentworth Institute of Technology men's volleyball team picked up a pair of wins – both against nationally ranked teams – to start the season 4-0 for the first time since the 2014. The ninth-ranked Leopards defeated eighth-ranked Vassar, 3-1, and seventh-ranked Nazareth, 3-0, on the second day of the 2017 SUNY Polytechnic Wildcat Invitational.
MATCH ONE: No. 9 Wentworth 3, No. 8 Vassar 1
Wentworth evened the all-time series against the Brewers at 3-all with a 3-1 victory on Saturday morning. All four sets were tightly contested as the Leopards took the opener, 25-22. The second set saw Wentworth held to an attack percentage of just .100 while Vassar hit .417 as the Brewers evened the match with a 25-23 win.
The Leopards forced Vassar to hit .037 in the third set and took a 2-1 lead with a 25-20 lead before closing out the match with a 25-23 win in the fourth set.
Senior Jake Reed (Arvada, Colo.) recorded 11 kills, served a pair of aces, and had six digs to pace the Wentworth offense. Junior Ollie Oshman (Pennington, N.J.) had eight kills on 12 swings with just one error (.583) to go along with five blocks. Junior Sean Mullen (Longwood, Fla.) had seven kills and seven blocks while seniors Alex Potts (Niverville, N.Y.) and Mike Hansen (Rochester, N.Y.) had six and five blocks, respectively. Potts also added nine kills. As a team the Black & Gold had 18.5 blocks.
Junior Colin Ritter (Feeding Hills, Mass.) had 31 assists and senior Mike Rogachefsky (Rochester, N.Y.) had 14 digs.
MATCH TWO: Wentworth 3, Nazareth 0
Wentworth picked up its first-ever series victory against the Golden Flyers in four meetings with a 3-0 triumph. Picking up where the Leopards left off against Vassar, the Black & Gold took the first set by a 25-21 margin and would hit a match-best .409 in the second set to extend their lead to 2-0 with a 25-23 win. Wentworth closed out the match – and a perfect weekend – with a 25-20 win in the third set.
Potts had an impressive match, recording 10 kills without an error on 18 swings (.556) to go along with two blocks. Reed matched Potts' 10 kill, two-block output and also served an ace. Mullen finished the match with seven kills and four blocks while Oshman had three blocks. Both Oshman and Hansen had four kills apiece.
Ritter had 32 assists, two aces, and four digs in the win. Rogachefsky had five digs.
Wentworth hits the road on Wednesday as the Leopards square off against Endicott in the first of two meetings this season between the two programs.
