Men's Volleyball Falls to Pair of Nationally-Ranked Opponents

NEW PALTZ, N.Y. – The Wentworth Institute of Technology men's volleyball team dropped a pair of matches against nationally-ranked opponents on Saturday, being swept by #1 Stevens before suffering from a 3-2 comeback win by the #7 Hawks of SUNY New Paltz.

 
MATCH ONE: #1 STEVENS 3, WENTWORTH 0

RECORDS

• Wentworth: 4-5
• #1 Stevens: 11-1

 
WENTWORTH STAT LEADERS:

• Kills – Jacob LaBouliere, 10; Sam Etter, 8; Hunter Oshman, 7
• Assists – Josh Milke, 27
• Digs – Mason Andrade, 10; LaBouliere, 5
• Aces – LaBouliere, 3

HOW IT HAPPENED:

• The Ducks set out to a 3-1 lead in the first set before a kill from senior Colin Stockton (Hummelstown, Pa.) cut the Leopards' deficit to one. After two points for Stevens, a senior Hunter Oshman (Pennington, N.J.) kill marked a 5-3 score. Down 7-5, the Leopards got a kill from junior Jacob LaBouliere (Pipersville, Pa.) to cut the deficit to one again at 7-6. The Leopards kept the deficit to one at 10-9 until Stevens jumped out to a 14-9 lead. Wentworth was able to close the gap at 17-14 thanks to a kill by freshman Nicolai Bell (Moraga, Calif.). However, the Ducks held onto their lead to a 25-17 final score, giving them a 1-0 match lead.
• Wentworth jumped out to a 6-2 lead to start the second set with kills coming from Oshman and sophomore Sam Etter (Massillon, Ohio). Stevens scored the next six points to claim an 8-6 lead. The Leopards were able to work their way back to hold a 13-10 lead thanks to two kills each from Etter and LaBouliere. After tying the score at 13-13 and 14-14, Stevens surrendered two-straight points to the Black & Gold, giving Wentworth a 16-14 advantage. Stevens pushed back and the two teams stayed neck-and-neck to a 23-23 score. However, the Ducks claimed a 25-23 set win, marking a 2-0 match lead.
• The two teams traded points to start the third set, with Wentworth getting a kill from Etter to mark a 3-3 tie. The two teams traded points to a 13-13 score until a kill from Oshman put the Leopards ahead by one. Stevens rattled off the next six points to give themselves a 19-14 advantage. Wentworth battled back to a 21-21 tie thanks to kills from Bell and Oshman, however, the Ducks claimed an eventual 25-22 set win, giving themselves a 3-0 match win.

THE SERIES:

• Stevens has claimed all four meetings between the two teams.

MATCH TWO: #7 SUNY NEW PALTZ 3, WENTWORTH 2

RECORDS

• Wentworth: 4-6
• #7 SUNY New Paltz: 6-3

 
WENTWORTH STAT LEADERS:

• Kills – LaBouliere, 20; Oshman, 15; Etter, 8
• Assists – Milke, 36
• Digs – Andrade, 14; Oshman, 11
• Aces – Tyler Jack, 2

HOW IT HAPPENED:

• Wentworth started the first set with a 5-2 lead, with two kills coming from LaBouliere. The Leopards were able to hold the lead at 9-5 with a kill coming from Etter. Wentworth extended their lead to six at a 16-10 score with a kill from Oshman. Kills from LaBouliere, Oshman, and Etter gave the visitors enough power to hold the lead up to a 25-17 score, giving Wentworth a 1-0 match lead.
• Errors by the Hawks gave the Leopards an early 5-0 lead in the second set. More errors and a kill by Etter helped the Leopards extend their lead to a 10-3 score. After the Hawks closed the gap at an 11-9 score, the Leopards got out to a 13-10 lead on a kill from LaBouliere. The Hawks tied the score at 13-all before a kill by Oshman and two aces from junior Tyler Jack (San Jose, Calif.) gave the Black & Gold a 19-15 lead. Kills from Oshman (2) and Etter propelled the Leopards to snag a 25-19 set win, giving the visitors a 2-0 match lead.
• The Hawks notched four of the first five points of the third set to give themselves a 4-1 advantage. Behind 8-4, an Oshman kill cut the Leopards deficit to three once more. Three kills from LaBouliere later cut the Leopards' deficit to one at 9-8. The Hawks then sprung out to a 14-10 lead. The two teams worked the score up, with the Hawks holding on to their four-point cushion, to a 25-21 set win for the hosts, marking a 2-1 match.
• A kill by Bell gave Wentworth an initial 1-0 lead to start the fourth set. The two teams worked the score up, trading points, to a 7-7 score, with the Leopards getting most of their points off of errors. A kill by Etter later gave the Leopards a 10-8 lead. The Hawks fought back to take a 12-11 lead until a kill from LaBouliere tied the score at 12 apiece. The two teams stuck together to a 17-17 score until the Hawks pulled away to later hold a 21-18 lead. The two teams worked up to a 24-24 score, but two-straight points for the Hawks gave them a 26-24 set win, tying the match at two apiece.
• After the Hawks got out to a 2-0 lead in the fifth set, an Oshman kill cut the deficit to one. The Hawks then extended their lead to 4-1. Behind 6-2, the Leopards got a kill from Etter to cut the deficit to 6-3. Errors piled up, resulting in a 9-6 lead for the hosts. SUNY New Paltz separated themselves from the Leopards, going ahead 13-7. A LaBouliere kill cut the deficit to four. The Hawks held on for a 15-9 win, giving the hosts a 3-2 match win.

THE SERIES:

• The Hawks have taken all four matchups to date between the two teams.

NEXT UP:

• The Leopards host Emmanuel in a GNAC matchup Thursday night (7:00 p.m.)

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