SAINTS SWEEP BARD, SPLIT TRI-MATCH AT #13 MIT

BOSTON, Mass. – The Emmanuel College men's volleyball team (2-1) split a tri-match with #13 Massachusetts Institute of Technology (6-1) and Bard College (0-7) on Saturday afternoon at DuPont Athletic Center on the MIT campus.

The Saints were swept by the Engineers (17-25, 20-25, 23-25) in the first match of the day and then bounced back to sweep the Raptors (25-21, 25-14,) to even things out for the afternoon.

MATCH 1 vs. #13 MIT

Emmanuel improved as the match played out, but they were unable to find their way back into it after falling into an early hole.

In the opening set, MIT opened up a 23-13 lead after freshman setter Yize Dong (Moraga, Calif.) set up sophomore Andrew Hall (Lynnfield, Mass.) for the kill. Dong had 31 assists for the Engineers, along with three digs, a block, and four block assists. The Saints did not go quietly in the set, as they rattled off four straight points to narrow the gap to six, but MIT regrouped and finished it off with two points of their own.

The second set was nearly a mirror image of the first, as the Engineers jumped out to a 22-14 lead after an EC attack error, but were unable to put the Saints away easily. Emmanuel responded with five consecutive points to cut the lead to three, but Dong set up kills by Hall and freshman Matt Reilly (Manhattan Beach, Calif.) to seal the set, 25-20.

The teams went back and forth for the majority of the third set, as no team led by more than four points (EC 18-14). However, it was the Engineers who battled back from behind to score 11 of the last 16 points.

EC Head Coach Bori May used a timeout after a kill by Aaron Huang gave the hosts a 23-22 edge. The Saints responded with a kill by senior Julian Hess (Santa Monica, Calif.) and evened the set at 23 before MIT found a way to score the final two points and take the set 25-23, and the match 3-0.

Emmanuel senior Barrett Wingard (York, Pa.) and MIT's Reilly led their respective sides with 12 kills in the match. Wingard also chipped in with seven digs, while Reilly had three digs, an assist, and a service ace.

Junior Sean Kropp (Fairless Hills, Pa.) had 11 kills for the Engineers and senior libero Brendan Chang (Laytonsville, Md.) picked up 15 digs.

Junior setter Jorge Rojas (San Juan, Puerto Rico) was stellar for the Saints, dishing out 32 assists and earning six digs in the loss.

MATCH 2 vs. BARD

In the second match of the day, the Saints came out firing and jumped out to a 5-1 lead after back-to-back kills by senior Drew Jordan (Braintree, Mass.). Emmanuel continued to roll and had opened up a 22-13 lead when Bard switched gears and made things interesting.

The Raptors combined multiple attack errors by EC with two service aces by senior captain Jesse Small (Brookline, Mass.) to trim the gap to 22-19, but the Saints regrouped and put the set away at 25-20 on a kill by freshman Kevin Orsley (San Jose, Calif.).

The second frame started out relatively even as the teams split the first eight points. But after the 4-4 tie, Emmanuel went on a 16-8 run to cause Bard to use a timeout and the break wouldn't matter, as the Saints scored five of the last seven points in the set to cruise to a 25-14 win.

The Raptors gave the Saints all they could handle in what would be the final set, as Bard claimed a 10-7 lead out of the gates. Two kills by freshman Erik English (Simi Valley, Calif.) sparked a small run to give EC an 11-10 edge, but the Raptors hung around and kept things tied up all the way to 14-14.

Unfortunately for Bard, the Saints' killer instinct kicked in and EC scored four straight points and 11 of the last 15 and wrapped up the match with a 25-18 win in the final set.

Rojas led all players with 26 assists in the match, as he chipped in on all but five of EC's kills. English and Jordan each had six kills for the Saints and English led the Saints with seven digs.

For the Raptors, senior Troy Robertson (New Orleans, La.) led the way with five kills and junior Mahir Sheikh (Bronx, N.Y.) picked up 10 assists. Sophomore Tyler Zowaski (Darien, Ill.) earned 10 digs in the loss.

The Saints return to action on Tuesday, February 2 as the #1 nationally-ranked Springfield Pride will visit the Emmanuel College Gymnasium for the Saints' home opener at 8:00 p.m.