Men's Volleyball Improves to 5-1 in GNAC With Victory Over Colby-Sawyer

NEW LONDON, N.H. –The #10 ranked Wentworth Institute of Technology men's volleyball team rebounded with a straight set victory Saturday afternoon, defeating Colby-Sawyer College 3-0 to improve to 12-3 on the season.

RECORDS

• Wentworth (12-3, 5-1 GNAC)
• Colby-Sawyer (1-7, 0-4 GNAC)

WENTWORTH STAT LEADERS:

• Kills –Alex McLane, 12
• Assists – Connor Adams, 31
• Digs – Phoenix Stebbins, 5
• Aces – Jacob Waga, 5

HOW IT HAPPENED:

• A pair of kills by junior Alex McLane (Columbus, Ohio) and one from freshman Sam Etter (Massillon, Ohio) helped Wentworth to a 4-1 lead to start off the first. The Chargers then won five of six points to take a one point lead, but another kill by Etter and a service ace from sophomore Jacob Waga (East Northport, N.Y.) put the Leopards back in front. Colby-Sawyer responded with five straight, including two kills from Orlando Plagata (Los Angeles, Calif.) to take an 11-7 lead. Later trailing by five, one kill each from McLane and Waga got Wentworth closer, as they won four of five to pull within a point at 16-15. The Chargers again came back strong, winning four straight and stretching their lead back to five. Despite two late kills from Etter and freshman Dave Arellanes (North Aurora, Ill.), the Leopards could not close the gap and dropped the opener 25-19.
• Senior Connor Adams (Budd Lake, N.J.) and junior Hunter Oshman (Pennington, N.J.) got the Leopards off to a good start in the second with a kill each as Wentworth won the first three points. After the Chargers won two of three, McLane connected on back-to-back kills to put Wentworth ahead 6-2 in the early stages. Junior Colin Stockton (Hummelstown, Pa.) added a kill and sophomore Jacob LaBouliere (Pipersville, Pa.) got in on the action with two, as the Leopards took a 12-7 lead, looking to tie the match at 1-1. One more kill by the sophomore, coupled with two consecutive aces by sophomore Tyler Jack (San Jose, Calif.), extended the lead to seven points. Later holding a six point lead at 17-11, the Leopards saw their lead shrink to four as Colby-Sawyer narrowed the score to 18-14. However, three straight points for the visitors built their lead back up to seven, and Wentworth was then able to close out the second with a 25-18 win thanks to late kills from Waga and Oshman, and an ace by Adams.
• A kill by Oshman and ace from Jack gave Wentworth a quick lead in the third, and after a 7-1 run that included kills by Adams and junior Tristan McDonough (Shelton, Conn.), the Leopards held a 9-3 lead. The Chargers came back to win four of six to pull within four, but a kill by Jack pushed the lead to 12-7 for Wentworth. The teams traded the next several points, but the home team won four of five, getting within two points at 16-14. McLane came back with a kill for the Leopards, and Jack followed with one of his own to put the lead back at four. But Colby-Sawyer came back once again, winning the next four to tie the set at 18 and force a Wentworth timeout. The scored one each coming out of the break, but a trio of kills for the Leopards – two by McDonough and one by Jack – gave the visitors a 22-19 lead late, and they finished off the third with a 25-20 victory after kills by Waga and McLane.
• With the score tied at two in the third, a kill by Waga led the Leopards to three straight points as they took the lead. With the score 6-4 in favor of Wentworth, the visitors, thanks to two kills by McLane and an ace from Waga, scored five straight to go up by seven. Two kills by Jack and one from McDonough were part of another 6-1 run for Wentworth, and after a few points from the Chargers, the Leopards closed out the match by winning nine of the final 11 points. Two more kills by Jack, as well as one from McDonough and Waga, were part of the final stretch as Wentworth took the fourth set 25-11.

THE SERIES:

• The two teams met for the fourth time Saturday, with Wentworth now holding a 4-0 record.

NEXT UP:

• The Leopards are back in action Thursday, March 3, when they host a rematch with Lasell University at 7:00 p.m.

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