PATCHOGUE, N.Y. – No. 15 Juniata and Saint Joseph's (L.I.) topped the Wentworth Institute of Technology men's volleyball team on Saturday afternoon in Patchogue, N.Y.
Match One – Juniata 3, Wentworth 2 (25-22, 25-20, 20-25, 23-25, 7-15)
Juniors Ryan Love (Gaithersburg, Md.) and Ryan Engel (Floral Park, N.Y.) put up career-high numbers to lead the Leopards against the ranked Eagles, with 21 and 18 kills, respectively. The Leopards ran out to a 2-0 match lead, but Juniata came all the way back to win the match in five sets, by scores of 25-20, 25-23, and 15-7. The Eagles executed near-perfect offense as they competed the comeback, committing just two errors combined in the fourth set, and none in the deciding set.
Junior Xhuljo Zyba (Holbrook, Mass.) put down nine kills to round off Wentworth's top hitters, while classmate Augusto Rodriguez-Guerrios (San Juan, P.R.) dished out 42 assists. Sophomore Peter Klembczyk (Penfield, N.Y.) and freshman Drew Hesse (Eden, N.Y.) paced the Leopards on the reception with seven digs apiece.
Match Two –Saint Joseph's (L.I.) 3, Wentworth 1 (25-17, 16-25, 16-25, 19-25)
Wentworth again took the opening set with efficient offense, hitting .400 with 12 kills and two errors on 25 swings. The Golden Eagles, who were hot off a five-set upset against No. 15 Juniata, fired back with three straight set wins, hitting above .300 in all sets won.
Love led the charge again for Wentworth with 12 kills, and recorded 12 digs for his second double-double of his junior season. Zyba booked 11 kills and two aces with five digs, while Engel posted 10 kills and three digs. Klembczyk led all players defensively with 16 digs, his fourth game this season in double figures.
Wentworth heads across town to Riverdale, N.Y. tomorrow for two matches, starting with Mt. St. Vincent at 11:00 a.m., before closing out at 1:00 p.m. vs SUNY Poly.
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