Men's Volleyball Sweeps Lasell in Rematch of Last Year's GNAC Finale

AUBURNDALE, Mass. – In a rematch of last year's Great Northeast Athletic Conference men's volleyball championship, the Wentworth Institute of Technology men's volleyball team (9-6, 7-0 GNAC) swept the Lasell Lasers (8-6, 3-2 GNAC) in narrow fashion, led by 19 kills from junior Jacob LaBouliere (Pipersville, Pa.).

HOW IT HAPPENED:

• After the Lasers sought out to a 4-1 lead in the first set, sophomore Sam Etter (Massillon, Ohio) and senior Hunter Oshman (Pennington, N.J.) notched kills to cut the Leopards' deficit to one. Behind 7-5, LaBouliere struck his first kill of the night to cut the deficit to one again. After sticking to a 10-10 tie, the Leopards pushed to 14-11 lead. The two teams traded points, keeping the Lasers within one, as LaBouliere continued to pick up kills to a 20-19 score before an Etter kill extended the Leopards' lead to 22-19. Etter and Oshman kills helped the Leopards' earn a 25-23 set win and a 1-0 match lead.
• Wentworth got out to a 3-1 lead with two kills coming from LaBouliere. The two teams stayed neck-and-neck until a kill from senior Tristan McDonough (Shelton, Conn.) extended the Leopards' lead to 10-7. Two kills from freshman Matthew Zegowitz (Westford, Mass.) tagged with an Etter kill brought the Leopards' lead to 14-10. After a service ace by junior Tyler Jack (San Jose, Calif.) continued the Leopards' advantage to 18-13, a McDonough kill extended their lead to six. Lasell pushed back, but Wentworth held their lead and notched a 25-21 set win off a Zegowitz kill.
• The two teams swapped points to work up to a 4-4 score to begin the third frame. After the Lasers worked to hold a three-point advantage, LaBouliere notched two-straight kills with the visitors down by two to knot the score at ten apiece. The two teams traded points, working to a 17-17 score, until the Lasers gained a 19-17 advantage. Kills by Oshman and Etter tied the score at 19-all before the Leopards' separated themselves in a 22-20 score before the Lasers again tied the score at 22-22. In a tight ending of the third set, kills from Zegowitz, Etter, and LaBouliere notched Wentworth a 25-23 set win, giving themselves a 3-0 match win over Lasell.
  
  

SERIES NOTES:

• The Leopards own the all-time series, 32-19, having won the last three matchups, with their last win prior to tonight coming in last year's GNAC Championship.

NEXT UP:

• Wentworth is back in action in a week's time when they travel to Long Island to face the Golden Eagles of Saint Joseph's.

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