Men’s Volleyball Rebounds with 3-0 Win over St. Joseph’s BK

THE BASICS 

Scores: 
Emmanuel College, 2; Nichols College, 3 (22-25, 25-27, 25-17, 25-22, 15-12)
Emmanuel College, 3; Saint Joseph's College (BK), 0 (25-20, 25-13, 25-22)

Records: 
Emmanuel College Saints (5-9, 0-2 GNAC)
Nichols College Bison (9-5, 0-1 NECC)
Saint Joseph's College (BK) Bears (2-8, 0-0 Skyline)

Location: Boston, Mass. – Andy Yosinoff Campus @ Emmanuel College

Date: Saturday, February 22, 2020

THE LEAD - The Emmanuel College men's volleyball team split a pair of matches in non-conference action on the Andy Yosinoff Court on Saturday afternoon. The Saints suffered a 3-2 setback to Nichols College to open the day but bounced back with a 3-0 victory over St. Joseph's College (Brooklyn) in the nightcap.

HOW IT HAPPENED (Emmanuel vs. Nichols)

• The Saints came out strong to take a 2-0 lead in the match with first and second set wins behind strong play from senior middle hitters Justyn Schueler (Trumbull, Conn.) and John Carroll (Massapequa, N.Y.)
• The Bison battled back, cutting the lead to 2-1 with a convincing 25-17 win in the third to shift momentum before taking the fourth set, 25-22, as sophomores Ray Wang (Chengdu, China) and Lance Law (Taunton, Mass.) controlled the net play for Nichols.
• In the final set, the Saints took an early 3-2 lead following an attacking error but Nichols responded five straight points to take control en route to a 15-12 win for the 3-2 comeback victory.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

• Wang finished the action with a career-high 26 kills, hitting at a .315 clip while Law added 14 kills and 11 digs.
• Schueler paced Emmanuel with 17 kills, tying his career-high. Sophomore Gary Randall (Essex Junction, Vt.) chipped in with 10 kills.
• Bison setter Kevin Keohane (Jefferson, N.J.) dished out a career-best 51 assists in the win while senior Seamus McDonagh (Long Beach, N.Y.) had 41 helpers for the Saints.

HOW IT HAPPENED (Emmanuel vs. Saint Joseph's BK)

• The Saints captured the opening set 25-20 behind six kills from Randall and five kills from McDonagh to take the early 1-0 lead.
• Emmanuel cruised in the second set, holding the Bears to only two kills and a negative hitting percentage to win 25-13 and go ahead 2-0.
• The third set was tight and with the score locked at 21-21, Emmanuel finished the match strong to seal the win at 25-21.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

• McDonagh was one dig shy of a rare triple-double, collecting a career-high 13 kills to go along with 10 assists and nine digs.
• Randall added nine kills while first year outside hitter Sean Oldread (Wilbraham, Mass.) chipped in with seven winners.
• SJC first year outside hitter Ramizjon Khudoyorov (Brooklyn, N.Y) led the way for the Bears with six kills and seven digs while sophomore libero Rogers Hatanga Kwiringira (Corona, N.Y.) collected a match-high 11 digs.

UP NEXT

• EC is now idle in match play until Tuesday, March 3 when they host Colby-Sawyer College at 7:00 PM in GNAC play but will be in action again this Saturday, February 29 in exhibition action in their annual Alumni Game at 7:00 PM.