Men's Volleyball Drops Four Set Match to #1 Ranked Springfield College

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. –The #10 ranked Wentworth Institute of Technology men's volleyball traveled to #1 ranked Springfield College Thursday evening, falling to the Pride 3-1 on the road.

RECORDS

• Wentworth (11-3, 4-1 GNAC)
• Springfield (11-0)

WENTWORTH STAT LEADERS:

• Kills –Jacob LaBouliere, 20; Hunter Oshman, 8
• Assists – Connor Adams, 34
• Digs – Jacob LaBouliere, 8
• Aces – Connor Adams, 5

HOW IT HAPPENED:

• After dropping the first three points of the match, sophomore Tyler Jack (San Jose, Calif.) came through with a kill and a service ace as the Leopards tied the opening set with three straight of their own. A pair of attack errors by Wentworth gave Springfield a two point lead, and with the Pride lead at 7-6, the home team won three in a row again, taking a four point advantage. The Leopards came back strong though, as a pair of kills from junior Hunter Oshman (Pennington, N.J.) and an ace by junior Colin Stockton (Hummelstown, Pa.) were part of six straight points for the visitors, who took a 12-10 lead. Wentworth then gave the lead back, as Springfield took four of five and forced a Leopards timeout. The back-and-forth then continued, as sophomore Jacob LaBouliere (Pipersville, Pa.) connected on three consecutive kills. After the Pride took the next two to regain a one point lead, LaBouliere and Stockton added two kills of their own, giving Wentworth a 19-18 advantage. Two more points for Springfield allowed them to take the lead, followed by Stockton tying the set at 20 with a kill. But two kills by Jarrett Anderson (San Jose, Calif.) put the Pride ahead late in the set, followed by two more kills by Liam York (Kailua, Hawaii) to close it out as Springfield took the opener 25-23.
• York and Anderson added one kill each as the Pride jumped out to a 4-1 lead in the second set. An ace by senior Connor Adams (Budd Lake, N.J.) capped off four consecutive points for the Leopards, who took the lead following the stretch. A pair of kills by Anderson helped Springfield win four of five, as the teams battled closely once again. But Wentworth then took control, going on a 7-2 run that included an ace from Stockton and a kill by graduate student David Marsh (Springfield, Mass.), putting the Leopards ahead 13-10 as the Pride called a timeout. LaBouliere, Jack, and Marsh picked up kills as the teams traded points, with Wentworth still hanging on to their two point lead at 17-15. An ace by Oshman extended the lead to four, with Springfield calling timeout following the point. A kill by Adams pushed the lead to five, and after the Pride cut the lead to two at 22-20, a kill from LaBouliere and two straight aces by Adams ended the set, as the Leopards tied the match 1-1 with a 25-20 win.
• A kill and ace put Springfield ahead early in the third, but Marsh and LaBouliere came back with kills for the visitors, tying the third set at 2-2. After the Pride went up by one at 4-3, the Leopards rolled off seven of eight, as Oshman had a trio of kills, while LaBouliere and Jack added one each. The run gave Wentworth a 10-5 lead, but the lead got trimmed to three after Springfield won three of four. An ace by Oshman put the lead back up to five, and three kills from LaBouliere built the lead up to 17-11 in favor of the visitors, forcing a timeout. Adams came through with an ace right out of the break, but the Pride won five of six to cut Wentworth's lead to 19-16, including a pair of kills by Anderson as the Leopards called time. A few errors by Springfield gave the Leopards a 22-18 lead, but three straight points for the home team put the difference at just one point, forcing another timeout for Wentworth. Jack picked up a kill to push the lead to two, but the Pride won three of four, coming back to tie the set at 24-24. Stockton gave the Leopards the lead with a kill, but Anderson responded with his own kill for Springfield. The teams traded the next four points, tying the set at 28. After the Pride had taken the lead, LaBouliere came back with a kill to tie it again. But Springfield was able to take the next two, coming back from seven points down to take the third set and go up 2-1 in the match.
• After a kill by Jack and a pair of errors by the Pride, the Leopards took a 5-3 lead in the early stages of a must-win fourth set. Kills by Oshman and LaBouliere kept them ahead by two, but Springfield then won eight of ten, as Anderson put in two kills and an ace as the Pride went ahead by a 14-10 score. A LaBouliere kill stopped the Springfield run, but a pair of errors by the Leopards put them in a 17-12 hole. After Wentworth won the next point, the Pride ran off five of the following six to take a 22-14 advantage, but the Leopards came back with three straight to pull within five. However, Wentworth couldn't close the gap, as Springfield racked up the three points they needed, closing things out with a 25-20 victory despite a late push from the Leopards.

THE SERIES:

• This was the 13^th meeting all-time between the Leopards and Pride, with Springfield now holding a 11-2 record.

NEXT UP:

• The Leopards return to the court Saturday, Feb. 26, when they travel to New London, N.H. to take on Colby-Sawyer College at 1:00 p.m.

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