LaBouliere's 33 Kills Not Enough As Leopards Fall to UC Santa Cruz

THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. –Jacob LaBouliere set a new career-high with 33 kills, but the #11 ranked Wentworth Institute of Technology men's volleyball team suffered a five-set defeat Saturday, falling 3-2 to UC Santa Cruz.

RECORDS

• Wentworth (15-4, 6-1 GNAC)
• UC Santa Cruz (6-13)

WENTWORTH STAT LEADERS:

• Kills –Jacob LaBouliere, 33
• Assists – Anthony Krzykowski, 52
• Digs – Alex McLane, 9
• Aces – Six players tied, 1

HOW IT HAPPENED:

• A kill by freshman Dylan Burritt (Newbury Park, Calif.) got the Leopards started, as Wentworth got out to a 4-1 lead in the opening set. Still leading by three after a kill by sophomore Tyler Jack (San Jose, Calif.), the Banana Slugs came back with four straight points to take the lead. Back-to-back kills by sophomore Jacob Waga (East Northport, N.Y.) and sophomore Jacob LaBouliere (Pipersville, Pa.) put the Leopards ahead, and Jack followed up with an ace put make it a 9-7 score. A pair of kills by LaBouliere, coupled with two errors by UC Santa Cruz, stretched the Wentworth lead to four points at 14-10 and forced a timeout by Santa Cruz. Coming out of the timeout, Waga added two more kills and brought the set to an 18-12 lead, but the Banana Slugs came back with five straight points to pull within one. Two straight points for Wentworth made it 21-18 in favor of the Leopards, but Santa Cruz came back with straight of their own to get within a point once again. After LaBouliere and Waga had one kill each and the score 23-21, LaBouliere came through with an ace to bring it to a set point. Waga then picked up the final point, putting down a kill to end the first set with a 25-21 victory for the Leopards.
• Kills by Burritt, LaBouliere, and freshman Nick Cebula (West Springfield, Mass) to start off the second set helped Wentworth match Santa Cruz in the early going, as the teams played to a 4-4 tie. Three errors by Wentworth put the Banana Slugs ahead, and they eventually pushed their lead to four. LaBouliere came back for the Leopards with a pair of kills, bringing it to an 11-8 deficit for Wentworth. Two more points by Santa Cruz forced the Leopards to take a timeout, and the Banana Slugs put up another after the stoppage as well to go ahead by six. After two Santa Cruz errors brought it to a five point differential, a 6-1 run for the Banana Slugs broke it open and put them ahead 22-12. LaBouliere added a trio of kills late in the set as the Leopards won four of five, but Wentworth could not overcome the deficit and dropped the second set 25-19 after making a late run.
• Santa Cruz won the first three points of the third set, followed by two kills from LaBouliere, who led Wentworth with 33 finishers on the day. The Banana Slugs then won four of five to open a four point lead, going ahead by four. The Leopards came back to narrow the deficit to one point, as Jack and Waga picked up kills, while Waga and freshman Alek Raymond (Chittenango, N.Y.) each provided an ace. But three consecutive kills for Santa Cruz built the lead back up to four, and after Wentworth had cut the lead to two, the Banana Slugs went on a 6-2 run to take a 19-13 lead. Despite a pair of late kills by Cebula and one by LaBouliere, Santa Cruz was able to close out the third by winning five of the last six points, taking a 25-17 decision to go ahead 2-1 in the match.
• Kills by three different players pushed the Leopards ahead 3-2 in a must-win fourth set, and LaBouliere's fourth kill in the set gave Wentworth a 7-5 lead. After the teams traded the next four points, two more finishers by LaBouliere pushed the Leopards ahead 12-9 after winning three of four. Santa Cruz came back to pull within a point at 13-12, but again LaBouliere and Waga added kills to make it a 16-13 score. The Banana Slugs came back though, winning four straight to take the lead as Wentworth took a timeout. Kills by junior Alex McLane (Columbus, Ohio) and LaBouliere evened the score at 18, and after Santa Cruz took a one point lead, the Leopards won the next four points to go ahead 22-19. LaBouliere and Waga added two more kills to close things out, as Wentworth took the fourth 25-21 to force a decisive fifth set.
• After losing the first point, the Leopards went ahead 3-1 after two more kills by LaBouliere. But the Banana Slugs came back with four consecutive points to take a two point lead. Wentworth then won three of four to tie it at six, but a 4-1 run ensued for Santa Cruz, who went ahead 10-7. With the score 13-9 in favor of the Banana Slugs, two kills by LaBouliere cut the Santa Cruz lead to two points, but it was not enough as the Banana Slugs held on to the lead and claimed a 15-12 win to earn a five-set victory.

THE SERIES:

• The two teams met for the third time today, with UC Santa Cruz holding a 2-1 all-time lead.

NEXT UP:

• The Leopards are on the road Thursday, March 17, as they resume GNAC play against Emerson College at 7:00 p.m.

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