CAMBRIDGE Mass. - The MIT men's volleyball team dropped two 3-0 matches on Saturday afternoon in Rockwell Cage to UVC foe New Paltz and Wentworth. 

THE BASICS:  

• Scores: 
  • New Paltz 3, MIT 0 (25-21, 25-19, 25-16)     
  • New Paltz 3 Wentworth 2 (25-21, 16-25, 22-25, 25-21, 15-11) 
  • No. 10 Wentworth 3, MIT 0 (28-26, 25-19, 28-26) 
• Records: MIT (10-10 Overall, 0-5 UVC), New Paltz (10-9 Overall, 3-0 UVC), No. 10 Wentworth (15-4 Overall) 

• Set 1: A 4-0 run from the Hawks gave them a 13-9 lead, but a 5-1 Engineer run capped by a kill from junior Michael Rini (Huntington Beach, Calif.) tied the match at 14. New Paltz then regained the lead and a kill from junior Krish Jain (Hicksville, N.Y.) gave New Paltz the 25-21 win. 
• Set 2: The Hawks had the lead from start to finish in the second set. The visitors raced out to a 12-5 lead before three-straight MIT points cut the lead to 12-8. New Paltz continued to build its lead and an Engineer error gave the Hawks set two, 25-19.  
• Set 3: New Paltz jumped on the Engineers again, taking an 11-5 lead, and a 4-0 run increased its lead to 17-7. An ace from first year Kristof Spellen (New Rochell, N.Y.) and a kill from junior Kevin Windisch (Placentia, Calif.) made it a 23-14 Hawks lead, but New Paltz held on for the 25-16 victory.  

INSIDE THE NUMBERS:  

• Senior Grant Oh (Irvine, Calif.) led MIT with 13 kills, two aces and two blocks. Windisch finished with eight kills. 
• Sophomore Jensen Fiskin (Palm Desert, Calif.) tallied 25 assists with first year Hansen Fan (Center Valley, Pa.) contributing five digs. 
• Sophomore Geoff Ndoria (Ronkonkama, N.Y.) and sophomore Michael Spiegel (Webster, N.Y.) led the Hawks with 10 kills each.  

HOW IT HAPPENED vs. WENTWORTH 

• Set 1: The opening set featured 15 ties and three lead changes. The Leopards got set point off a bad MIT set, but the Engineers got a kill from first year Maddox Brandenburg (Carlsblad, Calif.), and a block from Brandenburg and Fiskin to pull even. The teams exchanged points before Wentworth got two-straight kills to take the opening set 28-26. 
• Set 2: MIT built an 8-6 advantage, but Wentworth slowly chipped away eventually using a 5-0 run to take a 19-14 lead. After an attacking error cut the Leopards lead to 23-19, a service error from MIT and an ace from junior Nicolai Bell (Moraga, Calif.) gave Wentworth the win.  
• Set 3: The final set had 13 ties and seven lead changes between the two squads. The hosts took a 17-14 lead off a Wentworth error and a 3-0 run capped by a kill from Oh put MIT up 20-15. A 4-1 run from the Leopards cut the lead to 21-19 and three-straight points would give the visitors the lead at 23-22. MIT responded as a kill from Windisch gave them set point, but the teams once again went back-and-forth before three-straight Wentworth points secured the victory for the Leopards.  

INSIDE THE NUMBERS:  

• Oh added 13 kills, with Windsich and Brandenburg contributing seven a piece. 
• First year Warren Nam (Glendale, Calif.) collected 16 assists and nine digs. 
• Sophomore Josh Milke (Eastampton, N.J.) finished with 20 assists.  

UP NEXT: 

• MIT will host Springfield in a mid-week non-conference match on Wednesday, March 12 at 7:00 PM. New Paltz will play NYU on March 12 at 7:00 PM while the Leopards will host Dean and Elms in a tri-match on Saturday, March 15 beginning at 11:00 AM.  

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