February 10, 2018

BOSTON, Mass. – The Leopards downed the Saints in the first match of the day but Emmanuel came back strong to take a 3-1 victory over Eastern Nazarene, as the Saints shift to 3-7 this season. 

MATCH ONE: Wentworth 3, Emmanuel 0 (25-14, 25-14, 25-16)

Senior Jon Roat (Rochester, N.Y.) hit .471% to lead the Leopard attack with nine kills, five aces and 16 points. Junior Jesse Lefler (Rochester, N.Y.) followed with eight kills, while senior Collin Ritter (Feeding Hills, Mass.) dished out 21 assists, and added six kills and seven digs. Defensively, senior Ollie Oshman (Pennington, N.J.) jumped up for six of Wentworth's 16 team blocks, while Roat added four of his own.

For the Saints, junior Erik English (Simi Valley, Calif.) finished with nine kills and led the visitors defensively with 10 digs. Sophomore Seamus McDonagh (Long Beach, N.Y.) served up 19 assists as Emmanuel's primary setter.

The Leopards jumped to an early 6-2 lead with Oshman on the serve and turned a 7-2 run to lead Emmanuel 13-4 early on. Roat gave Wentworth its first double-digit lead, 19-9, which the Leopards carried until Lefler's final kill for the 25-14 final. Oshman again gave the Leopards an early comfortable lead in the second set, 7-3, forcing the visiting Saints to burn a timeout. English and sophomore Manuel Velez (San Jose, Costa Rica) pulled Emmanuel within three, 9-6, but Wentworth ripped off the next 10 of 16 points for a 19-12 advantage. A trio of services errors from Emmanuel, combined with a kill apiece from Oshman and junior Ryan Love (Gaithersburg, Md.), set the Leopards up for match point 24-14, before a block from Roat and Oshman sealed the set 25-14.

In the final set between the two Boston teams, Wentworth built an early 10-point lead, 16-6, led by a kill and two service aces from Roat. Emmanuel turned a quick 6-2 spurt, including two kills and a service ace from English, but the Leopards put away the final five of seven points to earn the conference sweep.

MATCH TWO: Emmanuel 3, Eastern Nazarene 1 (25-16, 23-25, 25-16, 25-22)

English recorded his fourth double-double of the season, and exploded for 17 kills (.316%), 15 digs and four aces in the neutral match. Sophomore John Carroll (Massapequa, N.Y.) rounded out double-digit kills for the Saints with 13, while McDonagh dished out a season-high 44 assists. English led the Saints' strong defensive effort with his 15 digs, followed by sophomore Max Gottuso (Long Beach, N.Y.) and McDonagh, who recorded 11 and nine digs, respectively.

For the Lions, senior Kenny Sorensen (Quincy, Mass.) smashed a career-high 20 kills and added 11 digs for his second double-double of the year. Sorensen soared well above his teammates, as sophomore Andrew Jayne (Quincy, Mass.) followed with five kills, while senior Andrew Shaw (Weymouth, Mass.) hit the floor for 13 digs.