Boston, MA --- The WPI volleyball team split a pair of matches on the road at Wentworth on Saturday afternoon. The Engineers fell 3-1 to the host Leopards (25-18, 20-25, 25-19, 25-19) in the first match of the day, while defeating Elms 3-0 (25-17, 25-19, 25-18) in the second, to move to 1-2 on the season. Wentworth improved to 2-0, while Elms fell to 0-2 in the 2023 campaign.
 
Match 1: Wentworth 3, WPI 1
 
Olivia Deckers (Marlboro, MA) and Lily Eldridge (Danvers, MA) each notched their second-straight double-doubles to lead WPI in the 3-1 loss. Deckers tallied 13 kills and 10 digs, while Eldridge dished out 29 assists with 10 digs. Audrey Stroupe (Leesburg, VA) added 11 kills, while Zeala VanDamme (San Diego, CA) notched her first career double-digit kill performance with 10. 
 
Wentworth's Kate McLane (Columbus, Ohio) led all players with 15 kills, adding 11 digs for a double-double. Ema Thompson (Lewiston, ID) (11 kills, 10 digs) and Olivia Vaughn (Bolingbrook, IL) (33 assists, 13 digs) also had double-doubles in the winning effort. Emma Sanders (Mount Pleasant, SC) finished with 12 kills and four blocks, while Amanda Zweifler (Jersey City, NJ) notched a match-high 15 digs.
 
The Leopards jumped out to an early 1-0 lead, hitting .385 to take the first set, 25-18. WPI answered with tight net work in set two, holding Wentworth to a .088 attack in the frame while racking up 14 kills to tie the match with a 25-20 win.
 
In the third set, the hosts jumped out to a 21-11 advantage and held off a late Engineers' rally to go up 2-1 with a 25-19 win. Wentworth then put the match away with a come-from-behind win in the fourth set. WPI led 16-14 before an 11-3 run closed out the set and match for the Leopards.
 
Match 2: WPI 3, Elms 1
VanDamme continued her hot hitting in the second game, putting up 11 kills in the sweep of Elms, while Deckers finished with eight kills and nine digs. Kylie Welcher (Rancho Palos Verdes, CA) and Emilia Krum (Saratoga Springs, NY) split setting duties with Welcher tallying 18 assists, five aces, and five digs, and Krum adding 16 assists and a pair of aces. Jia Yazon (South Windsor, CT) led the WPI back line to the tune of 11 digs.
 
For Elms, Samiyah Cabrera (Springfield, MA) notched a match-high 12 kills, adding seven digs in the loss. Jaylen Holman (Las Cruces, NM) had 16 assists and seven digs and Alyssa Moore (Ludlow, MA) led all players with 15 digs.
 
WPI forced seven Elms errors in the first set, allowing just four kills to cruise to a 25-17 victory. In the second, the Blazers scored the first six points, but the Engineers rallied to tie the set at 11-11. Tied later at 16-16, WPI used a 9-3 run to take it 25-19 and go up 2-0 in the match.
 
The final frame was the closest and was tied as late as 17-17, but again WPI closed things out with an extended run. Deckers served four straight points before VanDamme sealed it with back-to-back aces to give WPI the 25-18 set and 3-1 match win.
 
All three teams are back in action on Tuesday night. WPI plays at Regis at 7:30pm, Wentworth takes on Lasell at 7pm, and Elms goes to UMass-Dartmouth for a 6pm start.
 
WPI-Wentworth Box Score
 
WPI-Elms Box Score