Men's Volleyball Powers Past NJCU in NCAA Tournament

SALEM, Va. – Graduate student Ryan Love hit .464 and classmate Ryan Engel (Floral Park, N.Y.) added 11 kills of his own as the Wentworth Institute of Technology men's volleyball team opened the 2021 NCAA Division III Tournament with a 3-0 win over New Jersey City University.

RECORDS:

• Wentworth (8-2)
• New Jersey City (7-4)

Wentworth 3, New Jersey City 0

WENTWORTH STAT LEADERS:

• Kills – Ryan Love 15, Ryan Engel 11
• Assists – Anthony Krzykowski, 33
• Aces – Ryan Engel 3, Jacob Waga 2
• Digs – Tyler Jack, 7
• Blocks – David Marsh 5, Colin Stockton, 4

HOW IT HAPPENED:

• The opening set saw six ties and a pair of lead changes with the last tie coming at 9-all. Senior David Marsh (Springfield, Mass.) had a block to make it 10-9 in favor of Wentworth and from there the Leopards used a 10-6 spurt to take a 20-15 lead after a kill from Engel. New Jersey City was only able to come within four on a pair of occasions and the Leopards opened up a six-point spread three times, including when Engel recorded his sixth kill of the set to give the Leopards a 1-0 lead with a 25-19 win in the set. Engel hit .625 (6-1-8) as part of a Leopard offense that hit .346 as a team.
• Set two opened up pretty much going point-for-point before back-to-back attack errors gave Wentworth an 8-6 lead. Marsh put down a kill making it 9-6 and after a Marsh kill made it 13-10, a Gothic Knight attack error put Wentworth ahead 14-10. The Leopards' lead swelled to six (18-12) after a sophomore Colin Stockton (Hummelstown, Pa.) block and a kill from freshman Anthony Krzykowski (Feeding Hills, Mass.) extended the lead to 22-13. Engel again ended the set with a kill, putting Wentworth up 2-0 with a 25-15 win. Wentworth hit a match-high .367 in the frame and forced New Jersey City to a -.087 attack percentage. Love had five kills in the set and hit .444 while Engel added four of his own without an error.
• With the score tied at 11-all in the third set, freshman Tyler Jack (San Jose, Calif.) and Love recorded back-to-back kills to give Wentworth a lead it would not relinquish and the Leopards used a 7-2 run to take an 18-13 lead after a kill from Love. Out of a Gothic Knight timeout, an attack error and a block from Marsh and Engel pushed the lead to seven (20-13). Jack ended the match with a kill, sending the Leopards to the quarterfinals, 25-18. Love had seven kills on 11 swings without making an error .636) in the set.
• Love recorded 15 kills on the night, and, in addition to Engel's 11, Marsh had six to go along with five blocks. Engel also served three aces. Stockton finished with four blocks, while Jack had four kills and seven digs. Krzykowski had 33 assists. As a team Wentworth hit .349 and held the Gothic Knights to .014.

THE SERIES:

• Today was the 12th all-time series meeting between the two programs with Wentworth holding a 7-5 advantage. This was the first meeting since the 2016 season.

NEXT UP:

• Wentworth will face sixth-ranked Southern Virginia (15-2) in a national quarterfinal tomorrow at 5:00 pm.

For the latest on Wentworth Athletics, follow the Leopards via social media on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. Fans can also download the Wentworth Leopards "Front Row" mobile app, powered by PrestoSports, on iTunes and the Android Market.