McDONAGH HITS 2,000 ASSISTS IN MEN'S VOLLEYBALL SWEEP OVER PINE MANOR

THE BASICS 

Scores: Emmanuel College, 3; Pine Manor College, 0 (25-7, 25-9, 25-8)
Emmanuel College, 3; Pine Manor College, 0 (25-4, 25-9, 25-6)
Records: Emmanuel College Saints (7-6, 0-2 GNAC); Pine Manor College Gators (0-7 overall)
Location: Chestnut Hill, Mass. – Brunelli Court
Date: Thursday, February 21, 2019

THE LEAD: Junior setter Seamus McDonagh (Long Beach, N.Y.) dished out his 2,000^th career assist to power the Emmanuel College men's volleyball team past Pine Manor College in a pair of 3-0 victories on Thursday evening at Brunelli Court.

HOW IT HAPPENED 

MATCH 1

• The Saints took control of the match opening with a 5-0 run behind a pair of service aces by senior outside hitter Erik English (Simi Valley, Calif.). After a kill by PMC's Derick Speight to make it 5-1, Emmanuel rattled off eight straight points to go up 13-1 and cruise to a 25-7 first set win.
• EC jumped out to an early 7-1 lead in the second frame and held the Gators to just one kill in the set to take a 2-0 lead in the match.
• Emmanuel made quick work of the hosts in the third frame, collecting 11 kills while holding Pine Manor to a negative -.200 hitting percentage to complete the 3-0 sweep.

MATCH 2

• Emmanuel kept its foot on the gas in the first set, powering ahead to a 20-2 lead en route to a quick 25-4 win in set 1.
• Pine Manor pushed points early in the second frame, jumping ahead with a 3-2 lead following a fill by JohnieJoel Jackson but the Saints responded with a 7-0 run with kills by Schueler, English, senior Alex Silva () and freshman Gary Randall (). The Gators could not recover as Emmanuel costed to a 25-9 win in the second set.
• The squads traded points early in the third frame to a 4-3 score before Emmanuel engineered an 8-0 run to secure the sweep.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS 

• McDonagh combined for 57 assists in the wins, with his final of the night going in the books as his 2,000^th career helper to become just the fourth player in program history to hit 2,000 assists.
• Junior middle hitter Justyn Schueler (Trumbull, Conn.) led all players with 11 kills in the opening match while English added eight kills and six aces in the first win.
• English and Randall each added 13 kills in the second match victory as English hit at a .765 clip (13-0-17) and Randall at .611 (13-2-18).

UP NEXT

• Emmanuel will welcome alums of the program back to campus this coming Saturday, February 23 for the annual Alumni Game. Their next varsity match is on Wednesday, February 27 on the road against MIT at 7:00 PM.