WINGARD POWERS MEN'S VOLLEYBALL PAST WENTWORTH, 3-2

BOSTON, Mass. – Senior outside hitter Barrett Wingard (York, Pa.) collected a career-high 26 kills to lift the Emmanuel College men's volleyball team past Wentworth Institute of Technology, 3-2 (25-20, 20-25, 19-25, 27-25, 15-12). The Saints erased a 2-1 deficit to come-from-behind to avenge an earlier season defeat to the Leopards and improve to 12-9 overall and 2-5 in Great Northeast Athletic Conference action while WIT falls to 14-8 and 6-2 in the GNAC.

Trailing 2-1 in the match heading into the fourth set, the Saints regrouped and opened the set on fire by jumping out to a 9-1 lead behind the strong service game of junior setter Jorge Rojas (San Juan, Puerto Rico). EC would need every point of that lead in the end as the Leopards clawed their way back, tying the score at 23-23 following an Emmanuel hitting error. Wentworth took a 24-23 lead after another EC hitting miscue to force match-point but back-to-back kills by Wingard pushed the Saints ahead at 25-24. Wentworth evened the score at 25-all with a kill from sophomore setter Kevin McPeek (Bethlehem, Pa.)  but the Saints answered with a kill from rookie outside hitter Erik English (Simi Valley, Calif.) to regain a 26-25 advantage. With set point on the line, an attack by the Leopards sailed wide to give Emmanuel a 27-25 win, forcing a decisive fifth set.

The squads traded points early in the action with tied scores at 1-1, 2-2, 3-3, and 4-4 before an English kill gave Emmanuel the lead for good with one of his 16 kills on the night. Leading 7-6, another English kill gave the Saints a two-point advantage at 8-6 when making the mid-set side change and after the flip, Rojas executed a perfect dump set over the net for a kill to give EC a 9-6 cushion. The Leopards would pull within a point at 13-12 after a kill by sophomore Jon Roat (Macedon, N.Y.) and an Emmanuel error but the Saints closed out the match with kills by Wingard and senior Drew Jordan (Braintree, Mass.) to secure the set at 15-12 and match, 3-2.

During the early action, Emmanuel cruised to a 25-20 first set win behind an impressive .522 team hitting percentage but the Leopards dominated play in sets two and three behind strong play from Roat, junior outside hitter Jake Reed (Arvada, Colo.) and sophomore outside hitter Sean Mullen (Longwood, Fla.).

Roat finished the match with a team-high 19 kills to go along with five digs for Wentworth. Reed added 15 kills while Mullen notched a double-double with 11 kills and 15 digs. McPeek ended the action with a match-high 53 assists while junior libero Mike Rogachefsky (Rochester, N.Y.) collected a match-high 22 digs.

Along with his 16 kills, English also added 12 digs for a double-double while Rojas registered 43 helpers in the win. Senior libero Kevin Gallegos (Los Angeles, Calif.) chipped in with a team-high 15 digs.

The Saints return to action on Saturday afternoon for a GNAC tri-match hosted by Emerson College, starting play against Albertus Magnus College at 1:00 PM. Wentworth is also back to the court on Saturday for a 12:00 PM contest vs. Mount Ida College on the road.