Saints Downed By No. 17 Misericordia, 3-0

BOSTON – The No. 17 ranked Misericordia Cougars (12-4) defeated Saints Men's Volleyball (7-6) 3-0 (25-15, 25-21, 25-15) in a nonconference matchup on Friday night at Andy Yosinoff Court. The Cougars' win snapped Emmanuel's four game win streak while the visitors extended their own streak to four with the victory.

Leveled at 3-3 early in the first set, the Cougars strung together a 7-1 run to open up a six-point lead. The run was highlighted by five kills from three different players to give the visitors a 10-4. advantage. Later in the set, the Saints battled back with a 4-0 rally of their own to come within two points but were unable to close the gap any further. With the score 18-15, Misericordia won the final seven points of the set to take a 1-0 lead with a 25-15 first set victory.

Jyles Amirault (Andover, Mass.) got the Saints started with a powerful kill to begin the second set. The visitors responded with an equally emphatic kill from Anthony DePalma (Wayne, N.J.) as the two sides traded points until the score was deadlocked at seven. Misericordia then went on to win four consecutive points. The Cougars were able to grow the lead to 18-11 later in the set, but the Saints cut their advantage to 18-15 by winning four straight points of their own, capped off by a Trey Guest (Newington, Conn.) kill. Misericordia ultimately hung onto their edge, securing the set 25-21 and jumping to a 2-0 match lead.

The Cougars won five of the first six points of the third set, putting them in position to cruise to a third set victory. Misericordia extended their lead by as many as 12 in the set. Back-to-back kills from DePalma closed out the set for the Cougars, 25-15, as the visitors earned their 12^th win of the season, and fourth straight, with a 3-0 (25-15, 25-21, 25-15) victory.

Anthony DePalma led the way for the Cougars, finishing with 10 kills and an impressive .562 hitting percentage. Gannon DeFrain (Allentown, Pa.) led all players with 28 assists in the win. For the Saints, Trey Guest led the match with 12 kills while Dominic DeFerrari (Miami, Fla.) concluded with 23 assists in the loss.

Up next, Misericordia will continue their stay in Massachusetts as they head up the road to Cambridge tomorrow for a tri-match with Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Emerson (2/24) at 12:00 and 2:00 P.M. Emmanuel will head to Weston, Mass. for a GNAC contest with Regis College on Wednesday (2/28) at 7:00 P.M.