ENGLISH & MCDONAGH EARN GNAC ALL-CONFERENCE HONORS
BOSTON, Mass. – Senior outside hitter Erik English (Simi Valley, Calif.) and junior setter Seamus McDonagh (Long Beach, N.Y.) have been named to the Great Northeast Athletic Conference Men’s Volleyball All-Conference team, it was announced by the conference office on Tuesday afternoon. English earns First Team honors while McDonagh was named to the Second Team. Junior John Carroll (Massapequa, N.Y.) was the Emmanuel representative on the GNAC All-Sportsmanship team.
BOSTON, Mass. – Senior outside hitter Erik English (Simi Valley, Calif.) and junior setter Seamus McDonagh (Long Beach, N.Y.) have been named to the Great Northeast Athletic Conference Men's Volleyball All-Conference team, it was announced by the conference office on Tuesday afternoon. English earns First Team honors while McDonagh was named to the Second Team. Junior John Carroll (Massapequa, N.Y.) was the Emmanuel representative on the GNAC All-Sportsmanship team.
2019 GNAC Men's Volleyball All-Conference Team & Major Awards
English earns All-Conference honors for the third straight season following an appearance on the Third Team as a sophomore and Second Team as a junior. The senior enjoyed one of the most productive campaigns in Emmanuel men's volleyball history, ranking first in the nation in service aces (86), first in the GNAC in total kills (399) and points (502.5) and fourth in the conference in digs (275). During the campaign English appeared on the GNAC Weekly Honor Roll six times while earning both Offensive and Defensive Player of the Week honors.
English became the sixth player in program history to join The Grand club with his 1,000th kill this year and will graduate ranked third all-time in kills with 1,254 to his name. He recently became the program's all-time leader in career digs with 954 and also ranks fourth all-time in service aces with 214.
McDonagh earns Second Team honors for the second year in a row after helping Emmanuel to a 21-win season for the first time since 2011. The junior setter ranked second in the GNAC and 11th in the nation in assists per set averaging 9.71 helpers, finishing the year with 1,117 total assists to top the GNAC and rank second in the nation among D-III men's volleyball setters. The 1,117 assists is a new single-season Emmanuel record and along the way, McDonagh dished out his 2,000th career assist to become just the fourth player in program history to reach the milestone.
Over his three years with the Saints, McDonagh has appeared in 94 career matches and accumulated 2,771 assists to rank third all-time and will enter his senior year needing 859 helpers to set the all-time career assists mark at Emmanuel.
Emmanuel wrapped the 2019 campaign with an overall record of 21-13, marking the program's first 20+ win season since 2011. The Saints finished the year with a 9-5 mark in GNAC play to earn the No. 4 seed in the 2019 GNAC Men's Volleyball tournament field. After topping No. 5 Lasell, 3-2, in the Opening Round, the Saints fell to the eventual GNAC Champion and top-seeded/#13 Rivier University, 3-0.
Along with English, the Saints will graduate senior middle hitter Alex Silva (Jamaica Plain, Mass.) but return the rest of their line up in 2020.