Emerson Steals 3-2 GNAC Battle vs. Men’s Volleyball

THE BASICS 
Emerson College, 3 vs. Emmanuel College, 2 (20-25, 27-25, 18-25, 25-23, 15-12)

Records: 
Emmanuel Saints (9-9, 3-3 GNAC)
Emerson Lions (5-8, 4-3 GNAC)

Location: Boston, Mass. – Andy Yosinoff Court

Date: Thursday, March 2, 2023

THE LEAD – The Emerson College men's volleyball program erased 1-0 and 2-1 set deficits to come-from-behind and defeat host Emmanuel College, 3-2, Wednesday evening in Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) action on the Andy Yosinoff Court. The Saints have now dropped four straight for the first time since 2018 and the Lions have won four in a row for the first time since 2019.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• With the match tied at 2-2, Emerson jumped out to a 2-1 lead in the final frame before the hosts answered with six consecutive points to build a 7-2 lead following a kill by sophomore Thor Yingling (Truro, Mass.). The Lions responded with a three straight points before a service error made it 8-5 at the mid-way marker in favor of the Saints. Emerson battled and evened up the score at 9-9 on a kill from Bayden Slavik (Chicago, Ill.) to set up a six-point race for the win. Back-to-back aces out an Emmanuel timeout by Neiko Pittman (Santa Clarita, Calif.) made it an 11-9 uphill fight for the Saints as the Lions held on for the 15-12 win to take the match, 3-2.
• The Saints set the tone with a quick start in the opening set, racing ahead to a 7-1 lead behind a pair of kills from first year outside hitter Trey Guest (Newington, Conn.) and a kill and service ace from sophomore outside hitter Jyles Amirault (Andover, Mass.). Emmanuel led by as many as eight (20-12) in the frame, hitting .241 as a team to cruise to a 25-20 win
• Emerson flipped the script in set two by jumping out to a 5-1 advantage powered by the service game of Jack Miessner (Phoenix, Ariz.) and stretched the lead to as many as six before the Saints rattled off a 6-1 run to tie the score at 13-all following a kill from sophomore middle Louis DaSilva (New Bedford, Mass.).  The squads traded points and leads all the way until a 20-20 deadlock when Emmanuel got back-to-back kills from senior middle Josh McDonald (Smithtown, N.Y.) and Amirault to give the Saints the 22-20 cushion late in the frame. Out of an Emerson timeout, DaSilva slammed home a thunderous kill to make it 23-20 but the Lions rallied with a 7-2 stretch including consecutive service aces from Slavik to steal the second set, 27-25.
• In an intense third frame, Emerson was in control at the midway point leading 13-11 before the Saints responded with an 8-0 run that included a pair of kills from Yingling to pull the hosts on top, 19-13. Emmanuel nursed the lead all the way to the 25-18 win to pull ahead in the match, 2-1. The Saints posted a .522 hitting clip in the set, their best line of the match.
• Emerson never trailed in a highly contested fourth set that went the Lions way, 25-23. Slavik posted the final two kills for the visitors to force the decisive fifth set.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

• Pittman led all players with match-highs in kills (18) and digs (15).
• Four Saints finished with double-figure kill totals including McDonald (16), Amirault (14), DaSilva (12) and Yingling (11).
• EC senior setter Roman Fabrizio ran the balanced offense with a career-high 55 assists in the defeat.
• The 55 assists for Fabrizio marks the first time since April 9, 2019 that an Emmanuel setter has broken the 50+ threshold as Seamus McDonagh '20 last accomplished the feat vs. Lasell with 54 helpers.
• The win is just the Lions fifth career victory vs. Emmanuel as Emerson moves to 5-22 all-time vs. the Saints.
• Emmanuel hit over .300 as a team for just the sixth time this year and had previously gone 5-0 in matches when they broke that marker.

UP NEXT

• EC returns to the court in official action on Tuesday, March 7 for a doubleheader at Lesley University beginning at 6:00 PM but will also host their annual Alumni Game this Saturday at 6:00 PM.
• Emerson is also back in action on Tuesday, March 7 when they travel to Newton, Mass. for a GNAC contest vs. Lasell at 7:00 PM.