Men's Volleyball Wins 10th and 11th Straight, Clinches #1 Seed in GNAC

WESTON, Mass. – The No. 10 ranked Wentworth Institute of Technology men's volleyball team finished off the regular season with a pair of victories over Regis College and Rivier University Saturday, April 2, as the Leopards closed out the season on an 11-match winning streak. With the two wins, Wentworth claims the Great Northeast Athletic Conference Regular Season title and will be the number one seed in the upcoming tournament.

Wentworth 3, Regis 0

After falling behind 3-2 in the first set, junior Alex McLane (Columbus, Ohio) picked up a kill to tie the set at three. After the Pride briefly went ahead by a point once again, the Leopards blew the set open. The visitors broke off a 16-3 run to go ahead 20-8, highlighted by two kills and three service aces by sophomore Jacob LaBouliere (Pipersville, Pa.). Junior Colin Stockton (Hummelstown, Pa.) added three kills during the stretch, and sophomore Tyler Jack (San Jose, Calif.) added an ace as well. After a point by Regis to break the run, Wentworth came right back to win five of seven to end the set. Stockton had one kill and one ace, and graduate student David Marsh (Springfield, Mass.) put down a kill as the Leopards won the opener 25-11.

Wentworth kept it rolling in the second set, winning the first 10 points unanswered and eventually taking a 14-2 lead. Junior Hunter Oshman (Pennington, N.J.) had five kills during the span, while LaBouliere had two kills and one ace. Senior Connor Adams (Budd Lake, N.J.) had a pair of aces, while Stockton added two more kills. But the Pride went on a run of their own, winning seven of 10 in an attempt to get back in the set. The run made it a 17-10 score, but kills by Adams, Jack, and freshman Dave Arellanes (North Aurora, Ill.) extended Wentworth's lead to eight points at 20-12. Regis won four of the next five, narrowing the gap to five points, but two more kills and an ace by Arellanes helped put the set away, as the Leopards took a 25-17 decision to go up by two sets.

The Leopards got kills by five different players early in the third, as Wentworth briefly took a 5-4 advantage before the Pride won three in a row to go ahead. However, three kills by LaBouliere sparked a 6-1 run that put the visitors ahead 11-8. The Pride battled back, winning five of six themselves to take a one-point lead, but kills by Stockton and Arellanes put Wentworth ahead to stay. The Leopards took an 18-14 lead following the run, while a pair of kills by both LaBouliere and Jack closed things out in straight sets for Wentworth, who won the third 25-20 to take the victory in their first match of the day.

LaBouliere led Wentworth with 10 kills and four aces, while Adams delivered 29 assists. LaBouliere and senior Drew Potter (Towson, Md.) tied for the team lead, as each had five digs.

Wentworth 3, Rivier 0

Wentworth jumped out to a 4-1 lead in their second match of the day, thanks to two kills by LaBouliere and one by McLane. The Raiders cut the lead to one, but Oshman came back with two finishers for the Leopards, while LaBouliere had one. Another kill by McLane and back-to-back aces from Jack finished off a 7-2 run for Wentworth, who opened up an 11-5 advantage. Two more kills by LaBouliere and one from Oshman made it a 16-9 score, but Rivier came back with three straight to pull within four. Marsh and Oshman added one more kill apiece, and the Raiders then won three of four to bring the score to 20-17 and force a Wentworth timeout. The Rivier then narrowed the lead to two at 22-20, but three straight points for the Leopards, including kills from Stockton and Oshman, finished off the set with a 25-22 win for Wentworth.

Adams and LaBouliere both had service aces early in the second, as the Leopards went ahead 3-1. Rivier came back to tie the set at five, but Wentworth won four of five to take a 9-6 lead, thanks to kills by McLane, Oshman, and LaBouliere. A trio of kills for Rivier's David Smith (Clinton, Ohio) brought it to a one-point game with Wentworth still leading 11-10, but two kills by McLane and an ace by sophomore Anthony Krzykowski (Feeding Hills, Mich.) forced the Raiders to take a timeout, as the Leopards went up 14-10. After Rivier won four of six to get within a point, Wentworth took control of the set. Three LaBouliere kills and one ace by Adams gave the Leopards a 23-16 lead, then kills by Stockton and LaBouliere finished it, as Wentworth claimed a 25-18 win to go ahead 2-0 in the match.

Two kills by LaBouliere to start the third, as well as one from Oshman and Stockton, put Wentworth up 4-2 in the third. After a point by Rivier, the Leopards went on a 7-2 run to take command. McLane, Adams, and LaBouliere all registered kills, while Marsh picked up an ace as Wentworth built their lead to 11-5. Kills by LaBouliere and McLane helped Wentworth keep the lead, but the Raiders slowly got back into the set and made it a 15-12 score. But the Leopards took over from that point on, winning 10 of the final 13 points of the set to finish with a 25-15 victory. LaBouliere had three kills and an ace, while McLane added two finishers and Jack picked up a service ace.

THE SERIES:

The Leopards now lead the all-time series with Regis 16-0, and after the 50^th matchup between the teams, Rivier now leads the series with Wentworth 32-18.

NEXT UP:

After a first-round bye, the Leopards host the semifinal round of the Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) tournament Thursday, April 7 against either fourth-seeded Elms or fifth-seeded Regis.

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