Women's Volleyball Closes Day with 3-1 win over USJ

THE BASICS 
Match 1: Johnson & Wales University, 3 – Emmanuel College, 0 (25-20, 25-13, 25-16)
Match 2: Emmanuel College, 3 – Univ. of Saint Joseph (CT), 1 (25-16, 23-25, 25-20, 25-16)

Records: 
Emmanuel College Saints (7-9, 2-4 GNAC)
Johnson & Wales University Wildcats (11-5, 7-0 GNAC)
Univ. of Saint Joseph Blue Jays (3-10, 0-7 GNAC)

Location: Wildcat Center – Providence, R.I.

Date: Saturday, October 9, 2021

THE LEAD – Emmanuel College earned a GNAC Women's Volleyball tri-match split this morning, posting a 3-1 victory over University of Saint Joseph (CT) after falling in the opener to host Johnson & Wales University, 3-0.

MATCH ONE: The Saints raced out to an early 7-3 lead in the opening set before the Wildcats swung momentum with a 6-0 spurt to take a 9-7 lead. The set remained tight until a 20-19 score in favor of JWU when the hosts closed the frame on a 5-1 flurry to take the opening set, 25-20.

The squads traded points in the second set to a 7-6 score before Johnson & Wales took control with a strong service game to push ahead 21-10 en route to a 25-13 convincing win to make it 2-0.

Fresh off a comeback five-set thriller, the Saints were unable to turn it around in the third frame despite holding an early 8-6 lead as the Wildcats cruised to the 25-16 sweep.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS (Match 1)

• Junior setter Rachel Coleman (Peabody, Mass.) posted a double-double with 18 assists and a team-high 10 digs.
• Senior Caitlin Tannian (Reading, Mass.) led the offense with seven kills.
• JWU was paced by an 15-kill outing by Peyton Oliver.

MATCH TWO: Emmanuel College, 3 – Univ. of Saint Joseph (CT), 1 (25-16, 23-25, 25-20, 25-16)

Emmanuel and USJ traded points in the opening set to a 6-5 score (USJ) before the Saints took control to build a 20-11 lead, holding on for the 25-16 first set win.

The Blue Jays evened the match at 1-1, topping EC in the second frame 25-23 before the Saints bounced back with 25-20 and 25-16 wins in the third and fourth sets. Emmanuel never trailed in the fourth to notch their second GNAC victory of the season.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS (Match 2)

• Junior Tatiana Correia (Peabody, Mass.) paced the EC defensive front with a career-high 28 digs while fellow juniors Isabella Miller (Blackstone, Mass), Coleman and Julia Daggett (Hinesburg, Vt.) all collected double-digit digs as well with 11, 11 and 10, respectively. Coleman also added 40 assists in a balanced offensive showing.
• Senior Anna Caristi (North Attleboro, Mass.) and sophomore Seana Phillips (Middleboro, Mass.) shared the match-high in kills with 12 while junior Kerry Shea (Tewksbury, Mass.) 11 kills in the win.
• Shannon Carey posted a match-high 14 kills for USJ.

UP NEXT

• The Saints host Amherst College on Tuesday, October 12 at 7:00 PM in the Jean Yawkey Center Gymnasium in non-conference action. The Mammoths received 33 points in the most recent AVCA National Coaches' Poll, putting them in 34th nationally and fifth in the poll among New England institutions.