#13 Men’s Volleyball Takes Down Endicott and #12 New Paltz

BOSTON, Mass. – The #13 Wentworth Institute of Technology men's volleyball team went 2-0 in the tri-match at Tansey Gym on Saturday afternoon. The Leopards defeated the Endicott Gulls in five sets before taking down #12 SUNY New Paltz in another five-set thriller.

MATCH ONE: #13 WENTWORTH 3, Endicott 2

William Biggs led the way with 12 kills, hitting .476. Alem Dubcak had 11 kills on 21 swings while Benjamin Moughan tallied 10 finishes. Brayden Green and Temmy Argynbay dished out 27 and 18 assists, respectively, while Mehki Burns' 13 digs led the team.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• Wentworth jumped out to a 5-2 lead in set one behind Biggs' kill. The Gulls answered with six of the next nine points to tie the game at 8-all. Kills from Conner Foxwell and Dubcak gave the Leopards a 12-10 edge before the visitors rallied again to even the score at 13-13. The sides exchanged points, but Wentworth stayed in front and hit the 20-point mark first. Strong finishes from Biggs and Matthew Zegowitz set up Moughan's kill to seal the first set 25-21.
• After the Gulls started with a 3-0 lead, the Leopards scored four of the next five points to tie the game. Set two was another back-and-forth battle with the Leopards pushing the lead to 11-8 after an Eli Turner kill and an attack error by Endicott. Wentworth's advantage grew to six with another kill from Turner and a service error put the Leopards in front 20-15 late in the frame. Moughan, Turner, and Dubcak recorded kills to close the set 25-18 and give Wentworth a 2-0 lead in the match.
• The teams went back-and-forth again in set three, with the Leopards jumping in front 10-7 after another finish from Moughon. The lead stayed at five until the Gulls went on a 5-0 run with kills from Ethan Norris and Aidan Iacovelli to even the score. Wentworth managed to regain the lead at 20-17, but another rally saw the Gulls tie the game 24-all. Iacovelli and Aaron Bennett finished the frame with kills to give Endicott the 26-24 win in set three.
• Endicott came out strong in the fourth set, building a 14-9 lead after the teams went back and forth for the first 12 points. Two attack errors and a kill from Bennett put the Gulls in front 17-10 and the visitors did not look back. Both sides scored eight points, and Endicott tied the match with a 25-18 victory in set four.
• The final frame started much like the others, a tightly contested battle with Foxwell's kill giving Wentworth the 8-7 edge as the teams swapped sides. A 7-0 run with the help of four attack errors by Endicott and a Moughon ace gave Wentworth the 15-7 win and the 3-2 match victory.

THE SERIES

• Today was the 41st all-time meeting between the teams.

MATCH TWO: #13 Wentworth, 3 #12 New Paltz 2

Dubcak rattled off 14 kills against the Hawks to lead the team. Turner added nine kills and two block assists while Zegowtiz hit .316 with eight kills on 19 swings. Foxwell had six block assists and tallied seven kills.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• The game lived up to the hype as the two top 15 teams battled from the beginning. The Hawks took a 5-2 lead early in the first set. Zegowitz had a strong finish to make it a 7-5 game, but New Paltz stretched their advantage to 11-7 behind a kill from Nikko Tenedorio. Foxwell and Biggs came back with two strong finishes to cut the lead to one before a 7-3 run by the Hawks gave the visitors an 18-13 lead. Wentworth rallied and Dubcak's kill made it 23-22, but the Hawks held on to win the first set 25-23.
• The Leopards jumped out to an early lead in set two, with Zegowitz finishing a set from Green to make it 5-2. The teams exchanged points with Zegowitz coming up with another big kill to even the score at 18. After the Gulls went up by two, the Leopards scored three consecutive points, with Biggs' strong finish giving them a one-point lead. Trailing by one late, Dubcak had back-to-back kills to give the Leopards set-point. Another kill from Zegowitz and an ace from Dubcak secured the 27-25 win for Wentworth and tied the match.
•  Once again, the teams went back and forth with Turner tying the game at seven in the early stages of set three. The Hawks built a 13-9 lead behind kills from Matt Teplansky and Tenedorio, but the Leopards clawed back with Turner and Dubcak tying the game at 16. With the game tied again late, two attack errors put the Leopards in front 24-21. Another attack error and a finish from Dubcak gave Wentworth the 25-22 victory and 2-1 lead in the match.
• The fourth set was all New Paltz as the visitors came out flying and built a commanding 12-5 lead. The Leopards cut the deficit down to seven, but two aces from Tenedorio and a kill from Michael Spiegel put the Hawks in front 21-9. Daniel Shanley and Krish Jain tallied finishes late to tie the match.
• Wentworth opened the final frame with a 3-1 lead behind kills from Dubcak and Turner. New Paltz rallied to take a 6-5 lead with Jain and Spiegel tallying strong kills. Dubcak gave the Leopards the 8-7 lead and the teams swapped sides. The Leopards scored six of the next nine points to lead 14-10 as New Paltz called timeout. An attack error from Tenedorio secured the 15-10 win in the final set and gave Wentworth the 3-2 victory.

THE SERIES

• Today was the 1st all-time meeting between the teams.

NEXT UP

• The Leopards visit MIT on Thursday.   

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