Men's Volleyball Wins Third Consecutive in Straight Sets Sweep at Elms

CHICOPEE, Mass. - For a second straight season Emmanuel men's volleyball will host a conference playoff game after clinching a hosting spot in the Great Northeast Athletic Conference playoffs with a straight sets sweep over the Elms Blazers (25-16, 25-11, 26-24) on Saturday morning in GNAC play at Picknelly Arena. Although their final seeding in the GNAC Postseason Tournament is still unknown, Emmanuel clinched a top-four seed in the upcoming playoffs with two matches to go in their regular season.

The Saints came out strong in the opening set, combining for 17 kills on 39 attempts with three errors to hit .359 from the floor. Emmanuel claimed eight of the first nine points of the morning and never looked back in the first set. Kills by sophomores Trey Guest (Newington, Conn.) and Michael Shelley (San Francisco, Calif.), as well as a combo block for Shelley and junior Aiden McGowan (Marston Mills, Mass.), capped off the first set, 25-16, for the Saints.

Emmanuel improved on their percentage in the second set, hitting a match-best .588 on 10 kills, 17 attempts, and no errors. A 9-0 run through the middle of the set gave the Saints an insurmountable advantage while back-to-back service errors for the Blazers would eventually lead to a 25-11 set win for the Saints.

The Saints fought hard in the third to claim the straight sets win and avoid going to a fourth set. Despite several opportunities to pull away, Emmanuel never led by more than three. The Blazers had one opportunity at a fourth set with a 24-23 lead and set point coming but an Elms service error erased the chance at set point. A Saints block put them ahead 25-24 and on their only match point, Guest came through with a match-clinching kill and a 26-24 set win.

Guest and Shelley both had 13 kills on 27 attempts with Guest coming only two errors compared to Shelley's five. Guest finished hitting .407 from the floor while Shelley ended the day hitting .296. Junior Louis Da Silva (Marseille, France) had seven kills on eight attempts to hit a red hot .875. 

Blazers senior Pedro De Jesus (East Hartford, Conn.) had a match-high 16 kills to go with an attack percentage of .438. Grad student Collin Liedke (Newington, Conn.) finished with a double-double of 24 assists and 10 digs.

The Saints return on Tuesday, April 2, for Senior Night, as they host Emerson at 7:00 p.m. at the Jean Yawkey Center. The Blazers head to Rivier on April 2 for a 7:00 p.m. match with the Raiders.