CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – After falling behind 2-0 against No. 11 Wentworth, the No. 16 MIT men's volleyball team rallied to force a decisive fifth set on Thursday night in Rockwell Cage. In a match that featured 39 ties and 10 lead changes, the Leopards were able to escape with the thrilling five set victory and hand MIT its first loss of the year.
THE BASICS:
- Scores: Wentworth 3, MIT 2 (25-22, 25-23, 22-25, 19-25, 16-14)
- Records: MIT 7-1 Overall, Wentworth 7-1 Overall
HOW IT HAPPENED:
- Set 1: After a service error from Wentworth gave MIT a 5-4 lead, the Leopards rattled off four straight points to take an 8-5 lead. With the score 9-6, back-to-back kills from Matthew Louis and Henry Garewal brought MIT to within one. The Engineers continued to hang around in the set, but Wentworth held on to the lead, not letting the Engineers tie the match. Maddox Brandenburg kick started a 4-0 run which cut the Wentworth lead to 23-21, but the Leopards held on for the 25-22 set win.
- Set 2: A 4-0 spurt capped by a Louis kill put MIT up 9-5 and they eventually built a 17-13 lead on a Leopards error. From there, Wentworth went on a 12-6 run to close the set and earn the 25-23 win.
- Set 3: Benjamin Moughon gave Wentworth a 9-6 advantage, but the Engineers slowly chipped away with an ace by Alexander Garrett tying the set at 11. In a set that featured nine ties, MIT pulled away using a 5-1 run with a kill from Nate Toth giving MIT the 25-22 win.
- Set 4: With the visitors holding a 10-7 lead, MIT rattled off three straight points with a Nathaniel Black ace tying the match. The teams went back-and-forth before four consecutive Engineer points gave them a 18-15 advantage as MIT used a 3-0 run to close out the fourth set and force a decisive fifth set.
- Set 5: Wentworth raced out to a 7-3 lead but back-to-back Toth kills made it a one point set at 8-7. The Leopards held on to their lead until a Toth kill and an attacking error got the set even at 13. Brandenburg tied the match at 14 on his eighth kill of the match, but Wentworth tallied the next two points for the win.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS:
- Toth and Baker led MIT with 13 kills each. Baker hit .276 match with Toth hitting .241.
- Louis finished with nine kills.
- The Engineers finished with an overall attacking percentage of .301, earning 58 kills in 123 attempts.
- Colin Zimmerman collected 48 assists and added a pair of blocks and three kills.
- George Chang and Baker led MIT with seven digs.
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