MILTON, Mass. – Freshmen Leah Rogoz (Woodridge, Ill.) and Claire Quick (Mission Viejo, Calif.) each recorded double-doubles as the Wentworth Institute of Technology women's volleyball team fended off a Curry rally in a 3-2 victory in Commonwealth Coast Conference action Thursday night.
Winners of eight straight, the Leopards improve to 21-3 overall and 4-2 in CCC play while the Colonels fall to 9-11 (1-6).
Wentworth jumped out to a 10-2 lead in the opening set and never looked back as the Black & Gold hit a match-high .459 in the 25-10 win. Junior Caroline Shea (Abington, Mass.) had seven kills on 11 swings without an error to pace the offense.
Curry opened the second set by scoring the first two points, however the Leopards responded with a 5-0 spurt to take the lead. The Colonels would battle back to tie the set at 8-all, however a junior Katelyn Carlson (Stratford, Conn.) kill ignited a 13-2 run and gave Wentworth a 21-10 lead after a Curry attack error. Five straight Colonel points brought the hosts within six (21-15), however that would be as close as Curry would get as Wentworth took a 2-0 lead with a 25-18 win. Rogoz had five kills on eight swings without an error as the Leopards hit .367.
The third set saw the Colonels take an 11-7 lead and led again by four at 15-11. However, a 7-1 Wentworth run which was capped off by a sophomore Lillie Clark (Vista, Calif.) service ace. Curry came back to take a 22-20 lead after a bad set and the score would be tied four more times, including at 26-all before the hosts took a 28-26 win. Rogoz had five kills in the set and senior Stephanie Nihan (Dracut, Mass.) had four blocks.
A nip and tuck fourth set saw Curry lead 11-7 early in the set before Wentworth came back to tie the set at 15-all on a Colonel attack error and took a 16-15 lead on a Rogoz kill. The Leopards took a 22-19 lead on a kill from Quick, however five straight Curry points made it 24-22. Shea answered with a kill to bring the Black & Gold within one but a Curry block ended the set, 25-23.
The deciding set featured six ties and four lead changes. Wentworth took an 8-7 lead on a Quick kill and extended its lead to 12-10 on a Rogoz kill. However, three straight Curry points gave the Colonels a 13-12 lead. Out of a time out, Shea tied the set with a kill and with Clark on the line, she served an ace and Shea recorded a kill to end the match.
Rogoz finished the match with 19 kills, 22 digs, and a block. Quick had 15 kills and 19 digs and Shea added 14 kills and a pair of blocks. Freshman Samantha Lassiter (Rogers, Ark.) had eight kills and two aces, Carlson had 32 assists, freshman Maddy Tomastik (Portland, Ore.) had 17 assists, Nihan had four blocks, and Clark had 22 digs and two aces.
Wentworth hosts Eastern Nazarene on Saturday.
