Volleyball Returns From Layoff With 3-0 Loss at Wentworth

THE BASICS 
Score: 
Wentworth, 3 – Emmanuel, 0 (25-20, 25-13, 25-16)

Records: 
Emmanuel College Saints (5-5, 0-2 GNAC)
Wentworth Leopards (5-6, 4-0 GNAC)

Location: Boston, Mass. – Nelson Recreation Center

Date: Thursday, February 9, 2023

THE LEAD – After an 11-day layoff from its last match, the Emmanuel College men's volleyball team dropped a 3-0 decision to Wentworth Institute of Technology in GNAC action Thursday night, keeping the Leopards undefeated in conference play.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• Wentworth notched the first point of the match off of a kill by junior Tyler Jack (San Jose, Calif.). After trading points to a 6-6 score, the Leopards pulled away to hold a 10-7 and eventually 11-8 lead thanks to errors for the Saints. After the Saints battled back to take a 13-12 lead on a kill by Michael Shelley (San Francisco, Calif.), the two teams stayed neck-and-neck to a 17-17 score. Ahead by one at 19-18, the Leopards got two kills from senior Hunter Oshman (Pennington, N.J.) and Jack to help extend their lead to 21-18. A kill by freshman Nicolai Bell (Moraga, Calif.) propped the hosts to hold a 23-19 lead. The Leopards later clinched a 25-20 set win, giving themselves a 1-0 match lead.
• The hosts took a commanding 7-1 lead to start the second set, with kills coming from Bell, Oshman, freshman Brayden Green (Lake Worth, Fla.) and sophomore Sam Etter (Massillon, Ohio). Wentworth continued their lead to 10-3 off of another Etter kill. The Black & Gold later extended their lead to 14-6 off of a kill by Oshman. After a few points by the Saints, Green gave Wentworth another kill, marking a 18-10 score. Wentworth never let the Saints close the gap, giving themselves a 25-13 set win off of a kill by freshman Matthew Zegowitz (Westford, Mass.).
• Wentworth got out to a 4-1 lead in the third frame thanks to two kills by Bell and one by Etter. After an error for the hosts, a kill by Etter and Zegowitz extended the lead to 6-2. The Saints battled to keep the deficit at four for much of the final set, while the two teams worked the score up to 10-7 just before a Bell kill made it 11-7. Wentworth extended their lead to 17-11 on kills from Jack and Oshman. Oshman notched another kill to keep the Leopards' gap large at a 20-12 advantage. Freshman Gabe Tucker (East Greenbush, N.Y.) notched two aces in the final going of the third set, helping the Leopards earn a 25-16 set win and a 3-0 match win.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

• Oshman led all players with a match-high 14 kills while Etter chipped in with 10 in the win for the Leopards.
• Shelley enjoyed a strong performance in his return from injury to pace Emmanuel with nine kills.
• WIT played a fast offense all night, hitting .409 as a team (38-11-66) compared to a .200 clip for EC (18-8-50).
• The Leopards service game was also a difference maker in the result as the hosts served up 14 aces in the match including five from Tucker and four from McDonough while Emmanuel had just two total in the defeat coming from Shelley and first year Trey Guest (Newington, Conn.).
• Green finished the night with 31 assists while his EC counterpart, senior Roman Fabrizio (Salem, N.H.) dished out 18 helpers in the loss.
• The Saints still own the all-time series which now stands at 22-16.

UP NEXT

• The Saints are back on the road this weekend heading to New London, N.H. for a tri-match at Colby-Sawyer College on Saturday, February 11. EC takes on the Chargers at 11:00 AM in search of its first GNAC win of the campaign before playing Fisher at 1:00 PM in a non-conference affair.
• The Leopards are off until hosting Emerson at February 14 at 6:00 PM.

*Some release content courtesy of WIT Athletic Communications office