#12 Men's Volleyball Continues Strong Run, Tops MIT

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – Guided by a combined 30 kills from the duo of senior Hunter Oshman (Pennington, N.J.) and junior Jacob LaBouliere (Pipersville, Pa.), the Wentworth Institute of Technology men's volleyball team (22-6) topped the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Engineers (14-13) in four sets, good for the team's program-record 19th-straight win.

HOW IT HAPPENED:

• After errors filled the first points of the initial set, a kill by Oshman gave Wentworth a 3-1 lead. After kills by Oshman continued the Leopards' lead to 5-3 and later 8-3, two-straight kills from LaBouliere extended the Leopards' lead to 12-5. Two kills from LaBouliere and one from freshman Nicolai Bell (Moraga, Calif.) marked a 17-8 advantage. After a slight push back by the Engineers, kills by Oshman, Bell, and LaBouliere clinched the visitors a 25-17 set win and a 1-0 match lead.
• MIT started the second set with a 5-2 lead before two kills from Oshman and an error tied the set at five-apiece. Behind 7-5, and later 9-7, two kills by sophomore Sam Etter (Massillon, Ohio) in the sequences following dwindled Wentworth's deficit to one each time, resulting in a 9-8 score. The hosts held a one point lead for the middle portion of the set until they took a 16-13 lead, to which the Leopards again dwindled the deficit to one on kills by Etter and LaBouliere. Two-straight LaBouliere kills eventually tied the match at 17-17 before the two teams swapped points. Errors gave Wentworth a 24-22 lead before a service ace by senior Tristan McDonough (Shelton, Conn.) notched the Leopards a 25-22 set win and a 2-0 match lead.
• The two teams traded points to start the third set until a Bell kill tied the set at 4-4. After MIT rattled off four-straight points, two Etter kills cut the deficit to 8-6 before MIT stretched their lead to 15-8. Wentworth closed the gap on errors but eventually dropped the set by a 25-15 score, having MIT cut the match deficit to one at 2-1.
• A kill by Oshman gave Wentworth a 1-0 lead to start the fourth set before an Etter kill and service ace helped continue the lead to 4-1. Later knotted at 5-5, a LaBouliere kill set the Leopards out to 6-5 advantage before an Oshman kill marked a 7-5 lead. After an Etter kill marked a 9-8 lead and a Bell kill marked a 10-9 lead, kills by McDonough and LaBouliere marked a 15-13 lead. Errors for the Engineers gave Wentworth a 22-15 lead before a kill by Oshman gave Wentworth a 25-18 set win and a 3-0 match win.

SERIES NOTES:

• Wentworth has won two of the last four matchups with the Engineers.

 NEXT UP:

• The Leopards host a tri-match against Lasell (11:00 a.m.) and Elms (3:00 p.m.) Saturday, celebrating their Senior Day in the latter of the two matches.

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.