WOMEN’S VOLLEYBALL CRUISES PAST WENTWORTH, 3-0

BOSTON, Mass. – The Emmanuel College women's volleyball team cruised past Wentworth Institute of Technology, 3-0 (25-17, 25-20, 25-18), Tuesday evening in non-conference play at the Jean Yawkey Center. With the victory the Saints improve to 4-6 on the year and have now won three in a row while the loss drops the Leopards to 4-3.

In the opening frame, Emmanuel jumped out to a 6-0 lead to start the match and never looked back. The hosts held Wentworth to a .069 attacking percentage in the frame but the Leopards were still able to keep the action close, pulling to within three points at 19-16 following an EC attacking error. The Saints responded rattling off three straight points capped by a kill from junior right side hitter Sarah Colby (West Barnstable, Mass.) to make it 22-16 and EC would hold on for the 25-17 win.

The second set saw both teams take early leads before Emmanuel would pull ahead midway through the frame with an 8-7 lead forcing the Leopards to spend a timeout. The Saints would lead by as many as five (18-13) but Wentworth refused to go away quietly as the visitors would tie the match at 20-20 following another Emmanuel hitting error. The Saints burned a timeout of their own and regrouped, rattling off the final five points in the frame including a kill from rookie outside hitter Cassie Chruscielski (Duluth, Minn.) to secure the 25-20 win.

Wentworth was never able to get things going in the final frame hitting just .029 from the floor compared to Emmanuel's .241 clip. A strong service game from the Saints helped seal the 25-18 victory as sophomore setter Shannon Dudley (Morrow Bay, Calif.) reeled off back-to-back aces in the frame to lead the way.

Chruscielski led the Saints with 10 kills and a .318 hitting percentage while Dudley dished out a team-high 25 helpers in the win. Juniors Christine Durkee (Salem, Conn.) and Cara Callahan (Medway, Mass.) paced the defensive effort with 10 and 11 digs respectively.

For Wentworth, freshman opposite Sheena Dignean (Constantia, N.Y.) finished the night with a match-high 11 kills to go along with seven digs. Junior setter Shannon Ponce (San Jose, Calif.) also recorded a match-high with 26 helpers to go with eight digs. Junior libero Sam Curran (Quincy, Mass.) collected a match-high 13 digs.

The Saints return to action on Saturday when they face off against Gordon College and Bay Path College in a tri-match scheduled for a 12:00 PM start at Gordon while the Leopards are back in action the same day facing off against Emerson College and Lesley University in a tri-match at Emerson starting at noon.