BOSTON, Mass. – Senior Jake Reed (Arvada, Colo.) had eight kills, three digs, and five blocks and junior Jon Roat (Macedon, N.Y.) had seven kills, hit .455, and served four aces as the seventh-ranked Wentworth Institute of Technology men's volleyball team picked up its first-ever win at Emmanuel with a 3-0 victory over the Saints.
The Leopards, who had been 0-13 in the series at their Colleges of the Fenway rival, improve to 23-6 overall and 12-1 in Great Northeast Athletic Conference play.
After Emmanuel had taken a 6-5 lead upon being awarded a point on a bad set, Wentworth scored six of the next seven points and forced the Saints into a time out after a kill from Roat. Three straight points brought the hosts back within one, however the Leopards responded with a 9-3 run and took a 20-13 lead after an Emmanuel ball handling error. The teams traded points, which kept the lead at seven, until the Saints scored three out of four points to pull within five at 24-19. Roat ended the set (25-19) with a kill.
Wentworth raced out to an 8-2 lead in the second set before Emmanuel used a 6-2 run to close the gap to 10-8, thanks in part to five Leopard errors. A service error ended the run and began a 5-1 spurt which was capped off by a solo block from Reed. Emmanuel scored the next two points to make it 15-11, however the Leopards broke the set open with a 7-1 run which was capped off with back-to-back aces from Roat. Freshman Ryan Love (Gaithersburg, Md.) finished the set with a kill, giving Wentworth a 2-0 lead with a 25-14 win. The leopards forced Emmanuel to hit -.400 (2-8-15) in the set.
The third set saw Emmanuel lead by as many as two points on a pair of occasions, including at 8-6 before a 5-1 spurt gave Wentworth an 11-9 lead after senior Mike Hansen (Rochester, N.Y.) served an ace. Back-to-back errors allowed the Saints to tie the score at 11-all and Emmanuel would tie the score at 12-all before a 6-2 Leopard run – capped off by Reed kill – gave the Black & Gold the lead for good at 18-14. Reed would end the match with his eighth kill of the night, giving Wentworth a 25-17 win.
In addition to Reed and Roat, the Leopards received three kills apiece from Hansen, Love, junior Ollie Oshman (Pennington, N.J.), and junior Sean Mullen (Longwood, Fla.). Hansen had five blocks and two aces and Oshman also had four blocks. Junior Collin Ritter (Feeding Hills, Mass.) had 16 assists while freshman Augusto Rodriguez-Guerrios (Guaynabo, P.R.) had 10 helpers.
Wentworth will conclude the regular season on Saturday with matches against Mount Ida (11:00 a.m.) and No. 9 NYU (1:00 p.m.).
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