NEWTON, Mass. – The Wentworth Institute of Technology men's volleyball team ran its overall win streak to four matches and its Great Northeast Athletic Conference streak to six as the Leopards took a pair of conference matches on Saturday. Wentworth defeated Regis, 3-0, and host Mount Ida, 3-0, in a GNAC tri-match.
No. 14 Wentworth 3, Regis 0
Sophomore Ryan Love (Gaithersburg, Md.) served five straight points, which included three blocks from freshman Sean Spencer (Rancho Santa Margarita, Calif.) as the Leopards jumped out to a 6-0 lead in the opening set. Wentworth upped its lead to 18-3, thanks in part to sophomore Ryan Engel (Floral Park, N.Y.), who served four straight points to extend the lead to 15. The Black & Gold took their largest lead of the set (16) on three occasions, including when senior Collin Ritter (Feeding Hills, Mass.) made it 23-7 with a kill, and took the opener, 25-11. Wentworth hit a crisp .565 in the frame and forced the Pride to hit -.136.
The second set was tightly contested in the beginning before Wentworth took a 10-6 lead on a kill from sophomore Xhuljo Zyba (Holbrook, Mass.). The Leopards upped their lead to 17-11 after a senior Ollie Oshman (Pennington, N.J.) kill. Regis chipped away at the lead and trailed, 17-14, when junior Drew Beimel (Redondo Beach, Calif.) served an ace, however, Wentworth used an 8-2 run to close the set and took a 2-0 lead with a 25-16 win.
Holding a 10-6 lead in the third set, Wentworth used a 7-1 run to increase its lead to 10 (17-7). Regis pulled within seven on a pair of occasions, however, the Leopards scored four for the final six points in the set to complete the sweep with a 25-15 win.
Ritter finished the match with eight kills on 11 swings with just one error (.636) while also dishing out 15 assists. In his last three matches he has made just one error on 31 swings to hit .645 (22-1-31). Oshman, who has not made an error in his last three matches, hitting .808 (21-0-26), had six kills on seven swings and also recorded a pair of blocks. Love had seven kills on 11 swings with just one error (.545) while also serving three aces. Engel finished with five kills and three blocks. Sophomore Scott Skarzynski (Webster, N.Y.) had four kills and six blocks while classmate Augusto Rodriguez-Guerrios (San Juan, P.R.) had 16 assists.
No. 14 Wentworth 3, Mount Ida 0
After falling behind, 3-1, to open the first set, Wentworth scored the next five points, including a pair of blocks from freshman David Marsh (Springfield, Mass.) to take a 6-3 lead. Mount Ida countered with a 5-1 spurt and took an 8-7 lead before the Leopards regained the lead at 14-11 after a kill from junior Brian Drouse (Dallas, Pa.). The Mustangs crept to within one on five occasions, including a 20-19, however Drouse capped off the final five points of the set to give the Black & Gold a 25-19 win.
Wentworth took a 6-3 lead to open the second set and led, 8-5, before Mount Ida scored three straight points to even the score at 8-all. A kill from junior Jesse Lefler (Rochester, N.Y.) and three straight Mustang errors gave the Leopards a 12-8 lead. A service error eventually pulled the hosts within a pair at 14-12 before a 7-3 Wentworth run made it 21-15 when freshman Kevin Devine (Charlotte, Vt.) put down a kill. The Mustangs pulled to within four at 23-19 before a Skarzynski kill and a Drouse ace gave Wentworth a 2-0 lead with a 25-19 win.
The Leopards scored the first three points of the third set, however, Mount Ida put four straight on the board to take a 4-3 lead. Wentworth regained the lead with four straight points of its own and eventually the Leopards increased their lead to 17-10. The Mustangs scored the next two points but the Black & Gold closed out the set on an 8-2 run, ending the match on a kill from Devine, 25-14.
Devine recorded 11 kills and hit .562 (11-2-16) while serving two aces in the win. Drouse added six kills and hit .455, while Skarzynski had five kills on seven swings with an error (.714) and Lefler had five kills. Freshman Peyton Ranck (Seven Valleys, Pa.) had 20 assists.
Wentworth hosts MIT on Tuesday.
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