Men's Volleyball Defeats Elms in Straight Sets to Advance to GNAC Final

BOSTON, Mass. –The #10 ranked Wentworth Institute of Technology men's volleyball team defeated Elms College 3-0 in the Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) Semifinal Thursday, April 7, advancing to the GNAC Final this Saturday against Lasell University with the win.

RECORDS

• Wentworth (27-4, 16-1 GNAC)
• Elms (15-15, 10-7 GNAC)

WENTWORTH STAT LEADERS:

• Kills – Hunter Oshman, 11
• Assists – Connor Adams, 35
• Digs – Jacob LaBouliere, 5
• Aces – Colin Stockton, Tyler Jack, Connor Adams, 2

HOW IT HAPPENED:

• Wentworth jumped out to a 3-0 lead following kills by sophomore Jacob LaBouliere (Pipersville, Pa.) and junior Colin Stockton (Hummelstown, Pa.). After a kill by graduate student David Marsh (Springfield, Mass.), another LaBouliere kill and a service ace by sophomore Tyler Jack (San Jose, Calif.) gave the Leopards a 9-4 lead. The Blazers came back to win three of the next four points, making it a 10-7 score. As the teams traded points, kills by Marsh, junior Hunter Oshman (Pennington, N.J.), and junior Alex McLane (Columbus, Ohio) brought it to a 13-9 Wentworth lead. Two straight kills by Elms' Carlos Mercado (Barranquitas, P.R.) narrowed the lead to two points, but two points by the Leopards, including the third kill from LaBouliere, extended the advantage back to four points for Wentworth. The Blazers went on to narrow the gap to one point after winning four of five, but the Leopards went on a 5-1 run right after, including kills by both Oshman and LaBouliere and forcing an Elms timeout. The Blazers won the next three coming out of the break, shrinking Wentworth's lead to 21-19. The Leopards then won four of five to close out the set with a 25-20 win, as Oshman, LaBouliere, and McLane picked up one kill apiece, and Stockton picked up an ace.
• Wentworth took control early in the second, taking an 8-2 lead after a pair of aces by senior Connor Adams (Budd Lake, N.J.) and kills by Oshman and Stockton. Elms won two of three to bring it to 9-5, followed by three straight Leopard points to make it a seven-point lead. Two more kills by Mercado cut it to six, but Oshman came back with two kills of his own, and an ace by Stockton made it an 18-9 lead for the home team. A pair of kills by both LaBouliere and Oshman brought it to a 22-13 lead, then the Leopards closed it out with one kill by Stockton and two from McLane to win the second set 25-14.
• The teams played to a 3-3 tie early in the third, as Oshman and Stockton had one kill each. After Jack picked up another ace to make it 5-3, the Blazers won two of three to make it a one-point set. But Wentworth took over after that, going on a 12-3 run to blow it open and go ahead 18-8. LaBouliere, McLane and Oshman had two kills during the stretch, and Oshman added an ace as well. After two points by Elms, the Leopards won three in a row, as senior Drew Potter (Towson, Md.) score one kill and one block to make it 22-10. Kills by Adams and Potter then finished the match, as Wentworth claimed a 25-13 victory in the third to advance to the GNAC Final.
• The win marks the fifth straight appearance in the GNAC championship match (2016-19, 2022) for the Leopards, who won championships in 2016 and 2017.
• Wentworth is hosting the conference championship match for the third time in program history (2016, 2017, 2022).
• This is the Leopards' 27^th win of the season, tying for the second-most in a single season.
• Wentworth won its 12^th consecutive match Thursday, matching the second-longest streak in program history.
• The team is undefeated at home this season, as they improves to 11-0 in tansey Gymnasium with tonight's victory.
• This was the 20^th straight-set victory of the season for the Leopards, who have won 25 consecutive sets.
• Lasell in the finals, it's the second-ever championship meeting (2017)

THE SERIES:

• This was the 20^th time the two teams have met, with Wentworth now holding a 16-4 advantage in the series.

NEXT UP:

• The Leopards now advance to the GNAC Final Saturday, April 9 at 7:00 p.m., when they host Lasell University. This is the second time the two programs have met in the GNAC Championship, with Wentworth winning the previous matchup in 2017.

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