THE BASICS:
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Scores:
MIT - 3, Colby-Sawyer - 0 (25-11, 25-11, 25-14)
MIT - 3, No. 11 Wentworth - 1 (27-25, 25-21, 22-25, 26-24)
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Records: MIT (4-1), Colby-Sawyer (0-3), Wentworth (4-4)
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- Location: Boston, Mass. (Tansey Gymnasium)
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- The Lead: The MIT men's volleyball team won two matches including a 3-1 victory over hosts and 11th-ranked Wentworth on Saturday afternoon to improve to 4-1 on the season.
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HOW IT HAPPENED vs. Colby-Sawyer:
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Set 1: MIT raced out to an early 6-1 lead on back-to-back aces from junior
Nathan Levandoske (Harvey, La.). Colby-Sawyer cut the lead to four off an Engineer error to make it a 9-5 contest. A 5-0 run gave MIT a 14-5 lead, and a kill from first-year
Kevin Windisch (Placentia, Calif.) sealed a 25-11 win.
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Set 2: First-year
Matthew Pierre-Louis (Port Washington, N.Y.) put MIT up by 10 in the second set, and back-to-back points from first-year
Ben Volokh (Studio City, Calif.) gave the Engineers another 25-11 set win. MIT held the Chargers to a -.278 hitting percentage in the set.
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Set 3:  Colby-Sawyer took an early 3-2 advantage, but the Engineers went on an 8-1 run to go up 10-4. The Chargers cut the lead to five on a service error, but MIT did not let them get any closer as the Engineers went on a 9-3 run to take the set and the match. Â
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INSIDE THE NUMBERS:
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- Levandoske led MIT with 11 kills to tie a career-high. Volokh and Pierre-Louis each had five kills in the match.
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- Senior
Albert Luo (Dallas, Texas) had a team-high 12 assists and sophomore
Nicolas Stone Perez (Coral Gables, Fla.) had 10.
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- MIT hit .258 as a team in the match while holding Colby-Sawyer to a -.229 hitting percentage.
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HOW IT HAPPENED vs. Wentworth:
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Set 1: In what was a highly competitive first set, neither team generated much of a lead. Senior
Dylan Ryan (Oviedo, Fla.) tied the match at 17 with a kill, but Wentworth scored the next three to go up 20-17. An attack error by the Leopards got the match even at 23 all, and after a kill from
Sam Etter the hosts looked to close out the first set, but back-to-back errors gave MIT a one-point lead. Wentworth got the match even at 25 off an error, but back-to-back kills from senior
Nick Gustafson (San Diego, Calif.) and Ryan gave the Engineers the 27-25 win.
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Set 2: A kill from junior
Phillip Johnson (Chandler, Ariz.) put MIT up 10-7 and helped jump-start a 3-1 run to give the Engineers a 13-8 advantage. MIT built a 20-14 advantage on a kill from senior
Troy Oliveira (San Diego, Calif.) and a Wentworth attack error gave the Engineers set point. The Leopards scored the next two points to make it a 24-21 set, but another attack error gave MIT the 25-21 win. Â
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Set 3: MIT doubled up the home team early in the set, but the Leopards rallied to even the match at 14. A 4-1 run gave them an 18-16 lead, but the Engineers held firm and got back to within one on a kill from sophomore
Grant Oh (Irvine, Calif.) to make it a 23-22 set. MIT was could not get closer as WIT scored the next two points to extend the match.
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Set 4: Johnson gave MIT a quick 5-1 lead with a kill, but the host came roaring back and scored six of the next eight points to pull even. The two teams traded rallies, and a 6-2 Engineer run put MIT up 19-15. Wentworth got back to within two at 21-19 and eventually got back to even at 24. MIT did not falter, and after a service error by WIT, Gustafson sealed the victory with his 14th kill of the match.
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INSIDE THE NUMBERS:
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- Three Engineers had double-digit kills with Oliveira leading the way with 15 followed by Gustafson (14) and Ryan with 11.
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- Junior
Max Turner (Chandler, Ariz.) led both teams with 46 assists.
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- Windisch led MIT with 11 digs and Oliveira finished with nine and Gustafson finished with eight.
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- Etter led Wentworth with 18 kills and
Brayden Green contributed 22 assists in the match.
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UP NEXT:
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- MIT returns to the court for a mid-week contest in Beverly, Mass. against Endicott on Thursday, February 2nd. The Engineers and Gulls are scheduled to begin at 7:00 p.m.
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