#14 Men’s Volleyball Splits Saturday Tri-Match

THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. – The #14 Wentworth Institute of Technology men's volleyball team fell to the #18 Baldwin Wallace Yellowjackets in five sets before beating the Wabash Little Giants in four sets.

GAME 1: #18 Baldwin Wallace 3, #14 Wentworth 2

Alem Dubcak led the way with 17 kills while Eli Turner and Nicolai Bell added 12 and 11 kills, respectively. Brayden Green dished out 44 assists and tallied eight digs. Dubcak recorded nine digs to lead the team.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• The Yellowjackets jumped out to a quick 3-1 lead before a kill from Turner tied the game. The sides went back and forth for the next few points before an ace from Moughon and an attack error gave Wentworth a 10-8 lead. Benjamin Moughon added another finish and more errors by the Yellowjackets gave the Leopards a 12-9 lead. Turner added another tally to make it 14-10 and Baldwin Wallace called timeout. The sides exchanged the next 12 points with Dubcak and Foxwell tallying kills as Wentworth took a 20-16 lead. After Baldwin Wallace took another timeout, Zuniga's ace and a finish from Bell put the Leopards in front 22-16. Dubcak, Turner, and Moughon secured the 25-18 victory and gave Wentworth a 1-0 lead.
• Wentworth took a 14-11 lead and Baldwin Wallace burned a timeout. Out of the break, the Yellowjackets scored back-to-back points, but the Leopards answered with Bell's block making it a 17-14 game. Baldwin Wallace battled back to make it 18-17, forcing Wentworth into a timeout. The Leopards pushed the lead back to three behind Bell's strong finish at the net that put them in front 22-19. Wentworth scored the next three points to win the set 25-19 and take a 2-0 lead.
• The teams went back and forth to open set three, exchanging the first 10 points with the game tied at 5-5. The Yellowjackets took an 8-7 lead with a big block from Esteves before Dubcak's kill put Wentworth back in front. Baldwin Wallace battled back to take a 16-13 lead and the Leopards used a timeout. Wentworth clawed back into the set late, getting back within one, but the Yellowjackets held on to win set three 25-22.
• Baldwin Wallace jumped out to a 7-2 lead in set four, forcing Wentworth into an early timeout. The Leopards battled back to make it 9-7 before Moughon's finish got Wentworth within one. Turner tallied back-to-back kills to put the Leopards in front 12-11 before the sides went back and forth once again. Turner and Bell came up with a huge block and Dubcak had a strong finish to put Wentworth in front 18-16 as Baldwin Wallace called a timeout. The Yellowjackets went on a run to take a 21-20 lead and Wentworth used a timeout to stop the run. Baldwin Wallace held on to win 25-23 and force a decisive fifth set.
• The Yellowjackets led 6-3 in set five and Wentworth used a timeout to regroup. Dubcak's kill and Zuniga's ace brought the Leopards within one, but the Yellowjackets pushed the lead to 8-5 as the teams swapped sides. Baldwin Wallace went on to win the fifth set 15-9 and complete the reverse sweep.

THE SERIES

• Today was the third all-time meeting between the teams. Wentworth is 2-0 against Baldwin Wallace.

GAME 2: #14 Wentworth 3, Wabash 1

Moughon led the offense with 14 kills and Turner added 12 finishes. Mekhi Burns had 10 digs to lead the team and Green dished out 42 assists. Connor Foxwell had eight kills to five blocks and Dubcak added six kills.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• The teams went back and forth to open the game with the score even at 5-5 early on. Turner's finish gave the Leopards a two-point lead that grew to 14-11 thanks to Moughon's ace. The Little Giants battled back with a 4-0 run to take the lead before the Leopards evened the score once again. After going back and forth again, Wentworth led 21-18 thanks to Dubcak's finish. Wentworth held off a late surge to take the first set 25-22.
• Turner and Dubcak recorded early kills in set two to put Wentworth in front 6-3 before taking a timeout. Out of the break, the Little Giants tied the game, and the sides exchanged points until the Leopards took a 13-11 lead behind two service errors by Wabash. The Little Giants went on an 8-2 run to take a 19-15 lead and extended the lead to five late in the frame. Wabash took the second set 25-20.
•  Like the first two sets, the Little Giants and Leopards exchanged the first points of the third set. Wentworth jumped in front by two on a bad set and maintained that advantage until Wabash fought back to make it a one-point game. The Leopards held off the Little Giants and secured the set on a service error, taking a 2-1 lead in the match.
• Wentworth jumped out to a 3-0 lead before Wabash answered with a 5-1 run to take the lead. The Leopards got back in front behind errors by the Little Giants and extended the advantage to 12-8 with kills from Moughon and an ace from Popp. Turner and Moughom combined to extend the lead to 15-9 before Wabash cut it down to seven points. Popp and Foxwell kept the offense rolling and put the Leopards in control late in the set. Wabash rallied late but the Leopards held on to win the set 25-20 thanks to Foxwell's kill and won the match 3-1.

THE SERIES

• Today was the first all-time meeting between the teams.

NEXT UP

• The Leopards return home to host MIT on Saturday.

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