BEVERLY, Mass. – The No. 5 nationally ranked Wentworth Institute of Technology men's volleyball team defeated Endicott, 3-0, by scores of 25-18, 25-16, and 25-18 on Wednesday night inside MacDonald Gymnasium.
Wentworth secured its fifth straight victory of the season (5-0 overall) behind a .345 hitting percentage, and a defense that registered 33 digs, an .836 serve/receive percentage, and seven blocks (one solo, 12 assisted).
Meanwhile, Endicott saw Donovan Dey (Fairport, N.Y.) pace the Gulls with five kills, while Troy Riorden (Fairport, N.Y.), Jeremy Doski (Sandy Hook, Conn.), Ryan Sutherland (Fairport, N.Y.), and Tim Fieseler (Bridgewater, N.J.) each had four putaways.
Tonight's match featured 12 tied scores and four lead changes, with seven tied scores and all four lead changes coming in the second set. Endicott came within two points on several occasions over the final two sets but Wentworth produced a pair of runs in the middle of each stanza to secure the straight sets win (set two: 4-0 run at 14-12 mark | set three: 5-2 run at 15-13 mark).
BEYOND THE BOX SCORE
- The Gulls have played four nationally ranked opponents this season.
- Despite the loss, Endicott still holds a 19-7 advantage in the all-time series, highlighted by an 18-match win streak from 2001 to 2011.
- Devin Racey (Voorheesville, N.Y.) ran the offense with 11 assists, while Adam Dake (Victor, N.Y.) had seven, and Chad Riorden (Fairport, N.Y.) notched six, and also tallied seven digs.
- Ryan Healy (Fair Lawn, N.J.) paced the defense with eight digs.
- T. Riorden had seven of his 17 receptions lead to kills, and Healy had six of his 23 receptions correlate into putaways.
FOR THE FOES
- Jake Reed (Arvada, Colo.) compiled a match-high 10 kills on 23 swings (.304 hitting percentage).
- Sean Mullen (Longwood, Fla.) fell one kill of a double-double (nine putaways/12 digs), while Alex Potts (Niverville, N.Y.) had eight, and Ollie Oshman (Pennington, N.J.) came away with seven.
- Collin Ritter (Feeding Hills, Mass.) facilitated the offense with a match-high 33 assists. Ritter has dished out 30 or more assists in four out of five matches this season.
- Ritter also had eight digs, one block solo, and three block assists to his credit in the victory.
- Mike Rogachefsky (Rochester, N.Y.) saw nine of his 15 receptions turn into kills (match-high).
NOTES
- Wentworth is ranked No. 5 in the latest American Volleyball Coaches' Association (AVCA) poll.
WHAT'S NEXT
Endicott (1-5) will take part in the Johnson & Wales University (JWU) Tip-Off this weekend. The Gulls will open action on Friday against the host Wildcats at 4 PM, before playing Bard (1/27, 6 PM), MIT (1/28, 11 AM), and Lasell (1/28, 1 PM) throughout the remainder of the weekend. MIT and Lasell are both receiving votes in the latest AVCA poll.
Wentworth (5-0) will travel to MIT on Tuesday, January 31 at 7 PM. For the latest on Endicott Athletics, follow the Gulls on social media on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube.