Boston, Mass. – The Albertus Magnus College men's volleyball team opened the 2016 season with a 3-0 setback versus Wentworth Institute of Technology in Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) action on Thursday night inside Tansey Gymnasium. In the first conference contest of the year for both squads, the Leopards scored a 25-18, 25-14 and 25-16 triumph.
With the loss, the Falcons move to 0-1 on the year and 0-1 in league play, while WIT scored its second straight win to improve to 4-2 overall and 1-0 in conference tilts.
In the first game, Albertus Magnus had just seven kills compared to 14 for the hosts. The Leopards jumped out to an early five-point edge at 8-3 following an AMC attack error. Later in the frame, Albertus Magnus pulled to within two at 19-17 courtesy of a kill from senior outside hitter Ben Spilka (Redding, Conn.) before the hosts pulled away with six of the final seven points to take a 1-0 edge.
The two GNAC foes trades points early in the second stanza with a kill from Albertus Magnus senior outside hitter Connor Filkins (Wallingford, Conn.) knotting it at five. The teams would trade points over the next four serves to tie the game twice more at seven all and eight apiece. From there, the Leopards ran off 12 of the next 17 points, taking advantage of four AMC service errors and a pair of bad sets to build a 20-13 edge. Wentworth would score five of the final six points in the game to take a 2-0 lead.
In the third game, the Leopards broke open a 13-11 contest with 12 of the last 17 points to earn the home victory.
Senior outside hitter Justin Tharau (Burlington, Conn.) paced the Falcon attack with eight kills, while junior middle hitter Josh Turner (Trumbull, Conn.) added three of his own. In his collegiate debut, freshman setter Jeremy Ortiz registered 14 assists.
Albertus Magnus returns to action on Wednesday, February 3, with a road non-conference clash at Brooklyn College. The Falcons enter next week's tilt riding a three-match streak against the Bulldogs.
For the latest information on the men's volleyball team and Albertus Magnus athletics, follow AMCAthletics on Twitter and visit AlbertusFalcons.com.
