Emerson Rallies Past Wentworth Men's Volleyball, 3-2, in GNAC Quarterfinals

BOSTON, Mass. – The Wentworth Institute of Technology men's volleyball team inched closer to securing a home match in the upcoming Great Northeast Athletic Conference Tournament as the Leopards swept Lasell and Emerson to improve to 17-7 overall and 8-2 in league play.

Wentworth opened up against Lasell and played a tightly contested opening game, a game that saw 16 ties and seven lead changes. With the score tied at 23-all, the Black & Gold closed out the game with consecutive kills from sophomore Sean Donahue (Lincoln, R.I.) and junior Ross Burdett (Needham, Mass.). Sophomore Rami Akouri (Fall River, Mass.) had four kills in the game, while Burdett added three.

The Black & Gold hit a match-high .480 in the second game and took a 2-0 lead with a 25-15 win. Junior Brian Mann (East Freetown, Mass.) had four kills in the game, while Donahue and Burdett added three apiece. Wentworth held the Lasers to a .031 attack percentage in the third game, finishing the match with a 25-16 win. Akouri and Donahue had four kills apiece in the third game.

Akouri led the Leopards with 10 kills, while Donahue and Burdett had nine and seven, respectively. Both Donahue and Burdett hit over .600 for the match. Mann had three blocks, freshman Zach Newhouse (Lancaster, Calif.) had six digs, juniorMike Buonincontra (Shelton, Conn.) had three aces, and senior Tyler Moriarty(Wilbraham, Mass.) had 29 assists.

Wentworth defeated Emerson by a 3-0 score for the second time this season as the Leopards opened the match with a 26-24 win. The game featured 10 ties and four lead changes and the host Lions were serving for the game at 24-23 before kills from Burdett and Mann and an Emerson attack error gave Wentworth the win. Donahue had nine kills in the first game, while Burdett and Mann added five apiece. Wentworth hit .444 for the game.

The Black & Gold held the Lions to an attack percentage of .097 in the second game, taking a 2-0 lead with a 25-19 victory. Burdett had five kills and Donahue added three, while Newhouse had four digs. The Leopards used a 25-19 win in the third game to complete the sweep as Akouri had three kills and four blocks in the game.

Donahue hit .650 for the match as he recorded 14 kills on 20 swings and also had three blocks. Burdett added 13 kills and Mann chipped in with nine and four blocks. Akouri had six blocks, Newhouse added eight digs, and Moriarty had a pair of aces and 37 assists. The Leopards hit .368 as a team.

Emerson will head to No. 2 Emmanuel for the GNAC Semifinals on Thursday night at 7:00 PM.

*Release courtesy of Wentworth Sports Information Dept.