Waga’s Career High 18 Kills Leads Men's Volleyball to Victory Over Eastern Nazarene as Leopards Remain Undefeated

QUINCY, Mass. – Sophomore Jacob Waga (East Northport, N.Y.) had a career-best 18 kills Tuesday evening, as the Wentworth Institute of Technology men's volleyball team maintained its undefeated record, improving to 6-0 on the season after picking up a 3-1 victory over Eastern Nazarene College.

RECORDS

• Wentworth (6-0, 1-0 GNAC)
• Eastern Nazarene (1-6)

WENTWORTH STAT LEADERS:

• Kills – Jacob Waga, 18; Alex McLane, 12; Jacob LaBouliere, 11
• Assists – Connor Adams, 45
• Digs – Phoenix Stebbins, 11; Connor Adams, 10; Jacob Waga, 9
• Aces – Jacob LaBouliere, 4; Jacob Waga, 2

HOW IT HAPPENED:

• The Leopards dropped the first three points of the match, but quickly came back even the score. A pair of kills from both Waga and junior Alex McLane (Columbus, Ohio) helped Wentworth tie the opening set at six. After Eastern Nazarene took the next two points, the Leopards won five straight points, with sophomore Jacob LaBouliere (Pipersville, Pa.) and graduate student David Marsh (Springfield, Mass.) picking up a kill each during the stretch as the visitors took a three point lead. Three consecutive kills by the Lions' Delfy Soler (Lawrence, Mass.) helped Eastern Nazarene take three of the next four to tie the set at 12, but Wentworth followed with a dominant run. The Leopards won 10 consecutive points after the set had been tied to take a commanding 22-12 lead in the first. Waga contributed three kills during the stretch, while McLane picked up two. LaBouliere added a pair of service aces as well, and the set was then finished off by Waga, who picked up two kills and an ace to close out the opener with a 25-15 victory for Wentworth.
• Waga got started in the second set with a pair of kills, and McLane and LaBouliere added one each as the teams traded points early in the second set. With the Leopards holding a 6-5 lead, junior Colin Stockton (Hummelstown, Pa.) picked up an ace, and one more kill for both LaBouliere and Waga put Wentworth ahead 9-7. Still trailing by two a few points later, the home team ran off three straight points to take a 12-11 lead, but the Leopards responded once again. A 9-3 stretch in the middle of the set that featured two kills from both Waga and LaBouliere put the Leopards ahead 20-15. The Lions would have an answer of their own though, as a pair of kills from Alejandro Garcia Fernandez was part of five unanswered Eastern Nazarene points to tie the set at 20-20. The Leopards then won three of four to take a 23-21 lead, but the Lions again came back, winning three straight to earn a set point opportunity. After Wentworth came back to tie at 24, the teams traded a point aside. A pair of attack errors by Wentworth gave the Lions the two points they needed to close things out in the second set with a 27-25 victory.
• Wentworth got out to a 4-2 lead in the third following an ace by LaBouliere, and were able to maintain their two point advantage in the early stages of the third. After Eastern Nazarene cut their deficit to one, the Leopards won four straight to take a 10-5 lead and force a Lions timeout. The visitors kept up the offense coming out of the break, adding two more points to make it six unanswered. Eastern Nazarene kept things close, winning four of the next six to pull within five, but the Leopards were able to settle in as the teams traded the next 10 points, as four different Leopards picked up kills during the back-and-forth. With Wentworth holding a 19-14 lead, a kill by Waga helped spark four straight points to give the visitors a 23-14 lead, and a kill by McLane finished the third with a 25-18 Leopard win to put Wentworth up 2-1 in the match.
• The Leopards got off to a slow start in the fourth, as the Lions opened up a 5-2 lead early. However, two kills by McLane jumpstarted Wentworth, as they took four of the next five to even the score at 6-6. After the home team regained a two point advantage, a kill by Waga and an ace from senior Connor Adams (Budd Lake, N.J.) evened the score at 11. Two kills from Marsh gave the Leopards their first lead of the set, and after Eastern Nazarene came back to tie at 13, kills by Stockton and Adams, and an ace by Waga put Wentworth ahead 16-13. The Lions then came back with four straight of their own, taking the lead and leading to a timeout for the Leopards. Wentworth regrouped coming out of the timeout, as a pair of kills from LaBouliere and one from Stockton put them back ahead by two. The Lions won the next point to bring the score to 19-18, but LaBouliere came through with two more kills, and Marsh added one to take a three point lead. After Eastern Nazarene got to within 22-20, the Leopards closed out the match with three consecutive points, with LaBouliere finishing it off with an ace to close out a 25-20 win in the fourth.

THE SERIES:

• This was the 5^th time the two teams have met, with the Leopards winning all five matchups.

NEXT UP:

• The Leopards compete in a tri-match Saturday, first facing off with Emmanuel College at 11:00 a.m., then taking on Benedictine University (IL) at 3:00 p.m.

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