Men’s Volleyball Sweeps Lesley in Final Home Contests of Regular Season

THE BASICS 
M1 – Lesley University, 0 vs. Emmanuel College, 3 (25-7, 25-5, 25-4)
M2 – Lesley University, 0 vs. Emmanuel College, # (25-5, 25-3, 25-6)

Records: 
Emmanuel Saints (18-12, 9-5 GNAC)
Lesley Lynx (0-16, 0-7 NECC)

Location: Boston, Mass. – Andy Yosinoff Court

Date: Thursday, April 6, 2023

THE LEAD – Emmanuel College posted a pair of 3-0 victories over Lesley University in non-conference men's volleyball action Thursday evening on the Andy Yosinoff Court inside the Jean Yawkey Center. The doubleheader matches were the Saints last regular-season contests of the 2023 campaign.

HOW IT HAPPENED (Match 1)

• The Lynx scored the first point of the night on a kill by Jelanie Morgan (Cambridge, Mass.) before Emmanuel put together an 11-1 run that included four aces from first year Rob Moore (East Islip, N.Y.). Lesley kept the action around 10 points to a 16-7 score before EC closed the set on a 9-0 burst, capped with a kill by sophomore Leonard Kim (Los Angeles, Calif.) for the 25-7 win.
• For the second straight set, Lesley notched the opening point thanks to an EC miscue to take a 1-0 lead but Emmanuel answered with 10 straight points behind Kim's service game to make it 10-1. LU got the serve back at 10-2 and then the Saints rattled off another seven consecutive points on seven kills, four from sophomore Maximilian Olsen (Barnstable, Mass.) and three by senior Patrick Mannion (New Boston, N.H.) to make it 17-2. Later in the set, Olsen served up back-to-back aces to bring home the 25-5 win to move the match to 2-0, EC.
• The Saints never trailed in the third set, en route to the 25-4 win for the sweep, hitting .500 (12-2-20) as a team in the frame.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS (Match 1)

• Olsen finished with a season-high 12 kills to go along with three aces. More impressively, he recorded the 12 kills on 12 attempts for a 1.000 hitting percentage and a new single-match program record for hitting percentage, besting John Carroll's '20 mark of 11 kills on 11 attempts on February 28, 2019 vs. Pine Manor.
• Mannion added five winners while sophomore setter Jacob Aronov (Natick, Mass.) dished out 28 assists in the win.
• EC hit a season-high .482 in the win as a team (24-7-56).
• Sean Pugatch (Cambridge, Mass.) paced the Lynx with a game-high four digs.

HOW IT HAPPENED (Match 2)

• The Saints set the tone with another quick start, jumping out to a 7-1 lead. The hosts continued to add to the margin, all the way to a 15-5 score before they surged for the final 10 points of the frame behind Aronov's service prowess in the 25-5 win.
• In their most dominating set of the night, EC blitzed the Lynx to a 24-2 score in the second frame before trading the final two points for a 25-3 final. The Saints were almost flawless, hitting .750 in the stanza (7-1-8).
• Lesley scored first in the final set and evened the match at 2-2 on a kill from Morgan before the Saints went on a 5-2 jaunt to move the score to 7-4. The hosts then scored 12 in a row including three Mannion aces, coasting to the 25-6 final for the sweep.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS (Match 2)

• Mannion slammed home 10 kills in the nightcap to lead all players.
• Kim and Devon Perelgut (Plaistow, N.H.) added eight kills each.
• The Saints registered 24 aces in the win led by nine from Moore.
• Aronov bested his Match 1 total with a new career-high of 31 assists.
• EC bested its Match 1 season-high by an even better .509 clip in the nightcap (34-7-53).
• Hezekiah Brown (Cambridge, Mass.) registered five dogs and an ace for the Lynx in the setback.

UP NEXT

• The Saints wrap the 2023 regular-season on Saturday, April 8 at Emerson College for a GNAC tri-match with the Lions and Rivier University. EC currently has a one-match lead in the standings over Emerson so a win would lock in the No. 4 seed and a playoff hosting spot in the GNAC Quarterfinals next Tuesday, April 11.
• Lesley is back on the court the same day, heading to Quincy, Mass. for a 12:00 PM contest vs. Eastern Nazarene College in NECC action.