BOSTON, Mass. – With a feisty first set that boded well for the Lions, the Emerson Men's Volleyball team was unable to hold the lead Thursday night as they fell in a gritty 3-1 loss to GNAC opponent Wentworth. The Lions fell 18-25, 25-17, 25-18 and 25-18 to the Leopards to fall to 7-7 on the season and 2-3 in the GNAC while Wentworth moves to 10-5 on the year and 5-2 in conference play.

The first set was all Emerson as EC brought it with a .250 attack percentage and five blocks to all but stifle the Leopards attack which was -.129 in the set. Eric Doherty led the assault with four kills while Frank O'Sullivan made the start to swing .500 in the set for two kills. The Emerson defense was also lights out as they put up 13 digs with Justin Chun's expertise while Connor Burton did work at the net with three block assists as Emerson rolled to a 25-18 win.

The Leopards weren't contained so well afterwards though as a bitter second match saw both teams battle off eight tie scores as Emerson seemed to fall out of rhythm on offense with 10 attack errors, three service errors and two receiving errors to give the Leopards the foothold they needed in the set as Ross Burdett took the reigns with four kills for a .333 attack percentage and a 25-17 win to knot it at one apiece.

Set three was all Wentworth even as Emerson out blocked WIT three to two, but Ross Burdett just couldn't  be contained as he put up five more kills in the set while Emerson struggled with Wentworth's serves, giving them four service aces that the Lions couldn't answer to as WIT took the lead 2-1 with a 25-18 win.

While it looked for awhile that the match may roll into five sets with Emerson jumping out to a 7-3 lead on WIT, the Leopards battled back bit by bit as Nate Perry took on a brunt of the handiwork for Wentworth, flooring five in the set for a blazing .556 attack percentage. The Leopards defense also reeled them back into the fray as four blocks put them right back in it while three service aces helped seal the fate of the Lions, who fell 25-18 in the final set.

Emerson will roll on in their GNAC season as they set to host Albertus Magnus next Tuesday in Boston at Emerson's Brown-Plofker Gym. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. with the match being aired live on ESN.