BEVERLY, Mass. – Senior Jake Reed (Arvada, Colo.) recorded 10 kills and served three aces to help lead a balanced attack as the fifth-ranked Wentworth Institute of Technology men's volleyball team remained undefeated on the season with a 3-0 win over Endicott in a non-conference match at MacDonald Gymnasium.
With the win the Leopards improve to 5-0 on the season and, dating back to last season, have won 11 straight regular-season contests. The Gulls fall to 1-5 on the season with four of those losses coming to nationally ranked foes.
A fast start by Wentworth saw the Black & Gold score eight of the first nine points in the opening set which included a pair of kills from senior Alex Potts (Niverville, N.Y.). The Leopards built their lead back to eight at 16-8 before Endicott used a 7-3 run to close the gap to 19-15. However, an attack error ended the run and began a 4-0 spurt by Wentworth, which was capped off by a kill from junior Sean Mullen (Longwood, Fla.). The Gulls got as close as 24-18 before Potts ended the set with a kill.
The second set featured seven tied early before three straight Wentworth points gave the Leopards an 11-8 lead. Leading 14-12, Wentworth used an 8-2 run to extend its lead to 22-14 after a Reed kill. Potts would close out the set with a kill to give the Leopards a 25-16 win. In the set the Black & Gold forced Endicott to hit -.040.
Wentworth took a 9-6 lead in the third set after Mullen recorded back-to-back kills. However, Endicott tied the set three times, including at 13-all before a 7-2 Leopard run gave the Black & Gold a 20-15 lead after juniors Collin Ritter (Feeding Hills, Mass.) and Ollie Oshman (Pennington, N.J.) combined for a block. The Leopards extended their lead to 24-17 after an attack error and Mullen ended the match with a kill.
Mullen fell one kill shy of recording a double-double as he finished with nine kills and 12 digs. Potts had eight kills, Oshman added seven kills and four blocks, and Ritter had 33 assists, eight digs, and four blocks. The Black & Gold hit .345 as a team.
Wentworth is at MIT on Tuesday.
