THE BASICS 
No. 3 Wentworth Inst. of Tech., 3 vs. Emmanuel College, 1 (25-17, 19-25, 25-17, 25-14)

Records: 
Emmanuel Saints (0-1, 0-1 GNAC)
WIT Leopards (1-0, 1-0 GNAC)

Location: Boston, Mass. – Andy Yosinoff Court

Date: Tuesday, January 17, 2023

THE LEAD – The Wentworth Institute of Technology men's volleyball team cruised to a 3-1 (25-17, 19-25, 25-17, 25-14) win over host Emmanuel College in Great Northeast Athletic Conference men's volleyball action Tuesday evening on the Andy Yosinoff Court. The Leopards, ranked No. 3 in the most recent AVCA national poll, kick off the season with the conference victory to move to 1-0 while the Saints fall to 0-1.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• Wentworth put together a strong opening set, hitting .476 (14-4-21) while holding the Saints to a .000 (8-8-24) clip to prevail 25-17. Junior middle hitter Jacob LaBouliere (Pipersville, Pa.) led the way with six kills in the set for WIT.
• Emmanuel responded with their best frame of the night in the second to even the match at 1-1. Emmanuel raced out to an early 4-2 following an ace by sophomore Jyles Amirault (Andover, Mass.) and never trailed after that point in the set. EC swung away at a .444 (11-3-18) percentage, their best set of the evening en route to a 25-19 win.
• The Leopards regrouped and quickly took a 3-0 lead in the third after a pair of aces from junior outside hitter Tyler Jack (San Jose, Calif.). It was enough of a cushion for the visitors to hold the lead the entire frame, coasting to another 25-17 win to command a 2-1 advantage on the night.
• Wentworth used the momentum to cruise in the final set to the 3-1 win in the season and conference-opener. Sophomore outside hitter Sam Etter (Massillon, Ohio) led the effort with five kills on five swings as WIT combined to hit .688 (12-1-16) in the set to earn the GNAC victory.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

• LaBouliere led all players with 16 kills on the night, adding a team-high seven digs and three aces.
• WIT senior right-side hitter Hunter Oshman (Pennington, N.J.) added 14 kills while Etter finished the night with 12 winners.
• Amirault finished the match with eight kills to share the team-lead with sophomore Thor Yingling (Truro, Mass.).
• EC senior setter Roman Fabrizio (Salem, N.H.) dished out a match-high 32 assists.
• WIT ended the match hitting .410 (47-15-78) from the court compared to a .149 (35-22-87) clip from the Saints.
• Over 37 career meetings, the Saints still own the all-time series lead at 22-15 but the Leopards have now won 10 in a row.

UP NEXT

• Emmanuel hits the road for 11 straight matches beginning on Saturday, January 21 for a tri-match at Bard College. EC takes on Drew College at 1:00 PM followed by a 3:00 PM contest against Bard in Annandale-on-Hudson, N.Y.
• WIT is back in action on Friday when they take on No. 11 St. John Fisher at 2:00 PM in Marcy, N.Y. in the SUNY Poly Wildcat Invitational.