CAMBRIDGE, Mass. -- In a back-and-forth five-set thriller, No. 8 MIT emerged with a 25-18, 16-25, 25-19, 16-25, 15-11 victory against No. 6 UC Santa Cruz to claim its first MIT Men’s Volleyball Scramble Tournament championship on Saturday. The Engineers (24-5) defeated Hunter (25-11, 18-25, 25-22, 25-18), Bard (25-18, 25-16, 25-14), and Southern Vermont (26-24, 25-18, 25-18) before picking up their second five-set win against the Banana Slugs this season.
Siebert posted 12 kills, a .400 hitting performance, and nine digs in the opener with Hunter. Freshman Martin Krasuski registered 11 kills, a .556 hitting percentage, and five digs as Syta tallied 31 assists, nine kills, a .500 hitting effort, and five digs. Junior Alex Klein recorded nine kills and two blocks while classmate Andrew Busse contributed four kills, three blocks, and two aces. Sophomore Brendan Chang collected eight digs, followed by six from freshman Jordan Lucier. Senior Evan Wang rounded out the squad with 18 assists and four digs.
Freshman Sean Kropp paced MIT’s balanced attack with 10 kills in the sweep of Bard. Junior Tyler Nolan chipped in six kills and two aces as Klein added four kills. Syta totaled 13 assists, six digs, and two aces while Wang dished out 13 assists as well. Chang led the way with 10 digs as Lucier produced four digs and two aces.
