#3 Men's Volleyball Spikes Down First Win in Season Opener

BOSTON, Mass. – Three student-athletes recorded double-digit kills in the Wentworth Institute of Technology men's volleyball team's season-opening win against Emmanuel. The Leopards won the match 3-1 and notched their first conference win behind junior Jacob LauBouliere's (Pipersville, Pa.) match-high 16 kills.

RECORDS

• #3 Wentworth: 1-0 (1-0 GNAC)
• Emmanuel: 0-1 (0-1 GNAC)

WENTWORTH STAT LEADERS:

• Kills – Jacob LaBouliere, 16; Hunter Oshman, 14; Sam Etter, 12
• Assists – Josh Milke, 23; Brayden Green, 18
• Digs – LaBouliere, 7; Mason Andrade, 7
• Aces – LaBouliere, 3

HOW IT HAPPENED:

• The first set began with points going to either side, with the Leopards going up 2-1 and eventually 3-2 with kills from LaBouliere. With continued back-and-forth points, the Black & Gold extended their lead by one at 6-4 and 7-5 leads with two kills from senior Hunter Oshman (Pennington, N.J.). After the Saints tied the score at 8-8, LaBouliere's two kills helped the Leopards get back to an 11-8 lead. The visitors held their lead to a 16-11 score from help from freshman Matthew Zegowitz (Westford, Mass.), whose kill notched the Leopards' 16^th point. LaBouliere, Zegowitz, and Oshman recorded kills in order for the Leopards to hold their lead all the way up to a 25-17 score, giving the Black & Gold a 1-0 match lead.
• Emmanuel quickly got out to a 6-3 lead to begin the second set. However, a kill by sophomore Sam Etter (Massillon, Ohio), brought the Leopards within two at 6-4. Down 7-5, Etter recorded another kill to cut the Leopards' deficit to one. The two teams traded points, working the score up to 13-13, until the hosts began to pull away. Emmanuel got out to a 22-16 lead following. The Saints made errors to bring Wentworth within three at 22-19 but they then rattled off the next three points to take the set 25-19, tying the match at one apiece.
• A LaBouliere kill kicked off the third set, giving Wentworth a 1-0 lead. The Leopards worked up the score, holding a 5-3 lead, before rattling off five of the next six points following, with kills from Oshman and Etter, to extend their lead to 10-4. Oshman got another kill for the Leopards, working the score up to 11-5, and a slew of errors for the Saints resulted in a 15-10 lead for the Leopards. LaBouliere, Oshman, and Etter rattled off kills to bring Wentworth's lead to 23-13. The Saints were able to garner a few errors on the opposing side, resulting in a 23-17 score, just before two errors on their own side resulted in a 25-17 win for the Leopards and a 2-1 match lead.
• Wentworth got off to a 3-1 lead in the fourth set with two kills coming from LaBouliere. The two teams traded sets to work up to a 7-5 score, with the visitors getting two kills from Etter. The Leopards then scored six of the next eight points to give themselves a 13-7 lead. After trading points to work up to a 14-9 score, the Leopards got a key kill from sophomore Dylan Burritt (Newbury Park, Calif.) to make the score 15-9. A series of Saints' errors gave Wentworth a commanding 19-10 lead. A kill by Etter helped extend the Leopards' lead to 21-10. The Saints cut the deficit to 22-13 off of errors, but two kills from Oshman and Etter sealed a Wentworth victory with a 25-14 final set win.

THE SERIES:

• Tonight marked the 37^th meeting between the two teams. Emmanuel leads, 22-15.

NEXT UP:

• Wentworth plays St. John Fisher on Friday at 2:00 p.m. in their first match of the SUNY Poly Wildcat Invitational (Marcy, N.Y.), then Nazareth at 6:00 p.m. that evening.

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.