SAINTS DEFEATED BY NEIGHBORING LEOPARDS, 3-1

BOSTON, Mass. – Junior Alex Potts (Niverville, N.Y.) recorded 16 kills on 24 swings without making an error (.667 attack percentage) and added four blocks and classmate Jake Reed (Arvada, Colo.) added 15 kills to help pace the Wentworth Institute of Technology men's volleyball team to a 3-1 win over Emmanuel in Great Northeast Athletic Conference action Thursday night at Tansey Gymnasium.

With the win the Leopards improve to 12-6 overall and 4-1 in GNAC play while the Saints fall to 7-8 (1-4).

In the opening set, Wentworth led for most of the way and had a four-point lead four times, including after an Emmanuel ball handling error made it 14-10. The Saints pulled within one on a kill from senior Barrett Wingard (York, Pa.) and again at 19-18 on another Wingard kill. Two straight Leopard points made it 21-18 and Wentworth would lead 24-20 before Emmanuel received a kill from junior Jorge Rojas (San Juan, P.R.) and an ace from senior Drew Jordan (Braintree, Mass.) to make it 24-22 before a sophomore Jon Roat (Macedon, N.Y.) solo block ended the set. The Leopards hit .586 as a team in the set, making just one attack error on 29 swings (18-1-29) with Potts hitting .833 (5-0-6) and Roat and Reed recording four kills each. Junior Julian Hess (Venice, Calif.) had four kills for Emmanuel.

Hess and Rojas combined for a block which gave Emmanuel an 8-4 lead to open the set second before consecutive kills from Reed cut the deficit in half and a Potts kills made it 9-7. The Saints increased their lead to as many as four twice, including on a Wingard kill, however three straight Wentworth points made it 16-15 after an attack error. A Rojas kill upped the lead to two but Reed and sophomore Sean Mullen (Longwood, Fla.) recorded kills to tie the set at 17-all. The teams traded points before the Saints used three straight points to turn a 19-19 score into a 22-19 lead and would go on to even the match at a set apiece with a 25-20 win after Hess and Rojas combined for a block. Weingard had six kills on 10 swings (.600) while freshman Erik English (Simi Valley, Calif.) had five kills. Wentworth was paced by six kills from Roat and four from Reed.

In the third set Wentworth jumped out to a 4-0 lead which included a pair of kills from Potts. The Saints pulled within one on a pair of occasions and tied the set at 9-all after a Wingard kill. The Leopards scored three of the next four points before an attack error would tie the score at 12-all. Three straight Wentworth points forced Emmanuel to call time out at 15-12. Out of the time out, the Saints scored three straight points to even the score at 15-all. After a pair of ties Wentworth took a 20-18 lead after a Saint service error and a Reed kill. Emmanuel tied the set at 21-all on a ball handling error, however three straight Leopard points made it 24-21. The Saints made it 24-23 but a serve error ended the set. Potts paced the Leopards with six kills in the set while Reed added three. Neither made an error on a combined 14 swings.

Three ties in the early part of the fourth set eventually led to a 9-6 Wentworth lead after an Emmanuel attack error. The Saints made it 9-7 on an English kill before four straight Leopard points forced the visitors to call their second timeout at 13-7. Wentworth maintained the lead throughout the set and had a 20-15 lead on a sophomore Ollie Oshman (Pennington, N.J.) kill. The Saints scored the next three points to force Wentworth into a timeout after an attack error made it 20-18. The teams traded points to make it 21-19 before Reed and Potts recorded kills to make it 23-19. Roat and Potts combined for a block to end the match. Potts hit .500 (4-0-8) in the set.

Roat added 13 kills and four blocks in the win while Oshman chipped in with eight kills and two blocks. Mullen had seven kills and sophomore Kevin McPeek (Bethlehem, Pa.) had 54 assists. Junior Mike Rogachefsky (Rochester, N.Y.) recorded 20 digs.

Wingard paced the Saints with 14 kills and 11 digs while English and Hess had 13 and 10 kills apiece, respectively, with Hess also adding three blocks. Rojas had 47 assists and a pair or blocks.

Wentworth travels to Rvier on Saturday for a tri-match with the Raiders and Mount Ida. Emmanuel is idle until next weekend when the Saints will compete at the Johnson & Wales Invitational.