Men's Volleyball Earns Tri-Match Sweep with Wins Over Drew & Bard

THE BASICS 

Score: 
Emmanuel, 3 – Drew, 0 (25-22, 25-21, 25-20)
Emmanuel, 3 – Bard, 0 (25-21, 25-12, 25-23)

Records: 
Emmanuel College Saints (2-1, 0-1 GNAC)
Drew University Rangers (1-2, 0-0 Landmark)
Bard College Raptors (0-3, 0-0 NECC)

Location: Annandale, N.Y. – Stevenson Athletic Center

Date: Saturday, January 21, 2023

THE LEAD – The Emmanuel College men's volleyball squad picked up a tri-match sweep on Saturday afternoon for its first wins of the 2023 campaign. The Saints topped Drew University, 3-0 (25-22, 25-21, 25-20) in their first contest of the afternoon before sweeping host Bard College, 3-0 () to close out the day with a pair of wins. Drew topped Bard in the other match of the tri, 3-1.

HOW IT HAPPENED (vs. Drew)

• In three tight sets, the Saints played a clean match vs. the Rangers hitting .233 as a team while holding Drew to a .075 hitting percentage.
• EC raced out to a 3-0 lead in the opening set and never trailed in the 25-22 win before Drew turned the tables in set 2. The Rangers returned the favor with a quick start, taking a 7-3 advantage before the Saints fought back to even the score at 13-13 on a kill by sophomore middle Louis DaSilva (New Bedford, Mass.). The sides traded points to 16-16 before Emmanuel took the lead for good on a kill by senior middle Josh McDonald (Smithtown, N.Y.) en route to a 25-21 win to go up 2-0 on the match.
• In the final frame, the sides traded leads throughout all the way to a 19-19 score but four straight Emmanuel points gave them the late upper hand in the 25-20 win to secure the 3-0 sweep and their first victory of the year.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS (vs. Drew)

• Six players recorded five or more kills in the win led by eight each from DaSilva and sophomore outside hitter Jyles Amirault (Andover, Mass.)
• Senior setter Roman Fabrizio (Salem, N.H.) ran the balanced offense with 31 assists to go along with 10 digs for the double-double.
• Sophomore Thor Yingling () chipped in with six kills and a match-high 14 digs.
• Ephraim Smith paced DU with a match-high 10 kills in the defeat.

HOW IT HAPPENED (vs. Bard)

• The Raptors opened the match with three quick points before the Saints answered with four straight to set the tone for a back and forth opening set. Neither squad was able to pull away until scored seven of the final 10 points in the frame, capped by a kill by sophomore Leonard Kim (Los Angeles, Calif.) to secure the 25-21 win.
• EC cruised in the second set, hitting .571 as a team with no errors (8-0-14) to pick up the 25-12 win to take a 2-0 lead into set three.
• The Saints jumped ahead 5-1 early and never looked back despite a late surge from the hosts. Bard erased the deficit to pull ahead with a 21-20 score but the Saints rattled off four straight points to regain a 24-21 cushion, holding on for the 25-23 win and 3-0 sweep.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS (vs. Bard)

• 17 different EC players saw action in the win as DaSilva led the way again with a team-high six kills.
• First year outside hitter Trey Guest (Newington, Conn.) added five kills.
• Sophomore setter Jacob Aronov (Natick, Mass.) ran the offensive show for two sets with eight assists.
• Angel Obergh led all players with 12 kills for Bard.

UP NEXT

• The Saints return to action on Wednesday, January 25 when they head to Beverley, Mass. to take on Endicott College at 7:00 PM. The Gulls received four votes in the most-recent AVCA national coaches' poll, putting them 10 spots outside the Top 15.