#14 Men's Volleyball Battles Beyond North Park for Ninth-Straight Win

BOSTON, Mass. – Led by a game-high 18 kills from junior Jacob LaBouliere, the fourteenth-ranked Wentworth Institute of Technology men's volleyball team (13-6) pushed their win streak to nine with a sweep over North Park (9-10) on Friday evening.

HOW IT HAPPENED:

• After a LaBouliere kill put the hosts ahead 1-0 and was later matched in a 1-1 score, Wentworth set out to an 8-1 lead behind kills from LaBouliere and senior Hunter Oshman (Pennington, N.J.). North Park closed the gap to five at 12-7 before Oshman answered with a kill to mark a 12-7 score. A kill from freshman Nicolai Bell (Moraga, Calif.) pushed Wentworth's lead to 14-9 before. Wentworth continued their advantage to a 20-17 score on a kill by sophomore Sam Etter (Massillon, Ohio). The Vikings pushed back slightly, however, kills from Bell and LaBouliere secured the Leopards a 25-22 set win and a 1-0 match lead.
• Kills by Oshman, LaBouliere, and Bell brought Wentworth ahead 3-1 to start the second set before the Vikings pushed back. Working up to a 9-9 score on traded points, two kills from LaBouliere helped cement a 12-9 lead. Two kills from Oshman (at 14-12, 16-13) helped continue Wentworth's lead to 17-13. After services aces from Etter and Oshman pushed Wentworth's edge, kills from Bell and Oshman earned the Leopards a 25-16 set win.
• The two teams traded points to a 3-3 score at the start of the third quarter until the Leopards stretched a lead to 7-3 on a kill from senior Tristan McDonough (Shelton, Conn.). A kill by Etter continued the Leopards' advantage to 10-5 before the two teams traded points, with North Park narrowing the gap, to a 15-14 score. Kills by Oshman, Etter, and Bell extended the Leopards' lead to 21-16 before kills from Etter, Bell, and LaBouliere pushed Wentworth past North Park in the third set by a 25-22 score, marking the team's third sweep in a row.

SERIES NOTES:

• Tonight's matchup marked the first-ever between the two teams.

 NEXT UP:

• The Leopards stay in Boston, hosting Eastern Nazarene on Tuesday at 7:00 p.m.

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