Wentworth Defeats Behrend in ECAC Semifinals

ERIE, Pa. – Jake Reed registered a game-high 11 kills and Collin Ritter dished out 32 assists to lead second-seeded Wentworth past third-seed Penn State Behrend in the semifinals of the 2014 ECAC South Championships held by Stevens on Saturday afternoon.

The Leopards (26-8) stopped the Lions (15-10) short of their first postseason win with a three-set victory, 25-21, 25-18 and 25-15.

Josh Oertly (Cochranton, PA/Cochranton) and Nathan Steele (Cranberry Township, PA/Seneca Valley) each tallied six kills for Behrend, while Joey Price (Cranberry Township, PA/Seneca Valley) and Ty Sheehan (Cochranton, PA/Cochranton) added six digs apiece.

Wentworth led 9-5 in the first set, getting three points on kills and another by an ace from Ross Burdett to force Behrend to take its first timeout. The Leopards came out of the break to earn four straight points to make it 13-5. From there, the Lions outscored Wentworth 15-12, but the early lead helped the Leopards stay on top, 25-21.

The second set was synonymous to the first in how it started. Wentworth jumped ahead 9-5 before getting kills from Sean Donahue and Reed for a 13-7 edge. The Lions got within five on five occasions. At 23-18, the Leopards got the next point on a kill from Sam Pisker and then took a two-game lead on an attack error to win, 25-18.

Behrend fought back to take control of the third set early for a small 10-9 lead. Wentworth knew they needed one more win to advance to the championship match and honed their defense, allowing the Lions only five more points while reeling off the next 15 for a 25-15 victory.

Colin Ingram (Hilliard, OH/Hilliard Darby) handed out 13 assists and Grant Kocher (McMurray, PA/Peters Township) added four kills and two blocks.