Da Silva, Shelley, DeFerrari Claim GNAC Weekly Award Honors

WINTHROP, Mass. – Saints junior Louis Da Silva (Marseille, France) and sophomores Michael Shelley (San Francisco, Calif.) and Dominic DeFerrari (Miami, Fla.) were all recognized by the Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) this week after being named the GNAC Defensive Player, Offensive Player, and Setter of the Week, respectively, as announced by the GNAC Office on March 25.

Da Silva averaged 1.17 blocks this past week, starting the week by recording three blocks in just one set of a 3-0 sweep of Dean. After recording one block against Wentworth, he had back-to-back five-block games against Lasell and Rivier. Of his 14 total blocks, two came as solo stops and 12 assisted.

Shelley finished the week averaging 5.25 kills per set on a .302 hitting percentage. Shelley produced three straight double-digit kill performances last week against Wentworth, Lasell, and Rivier. The highlight of the trio of matches came against Lasell, finishing with a career-high 33 kills against the Lasers, becoming just the third player in program history to have a 30-kill match.

DeFerrari played in three matches this week for Emmanuel, averaging 9.91 assists per set. He opened his week with 24 helpers against Wentworth. He followed that up with a career-high 53 assists in a five-set thriller against Lasell before closing out the week with 32 assists in a 3-0 sweep of Rivier to secure the GNAC victory.

The Saints are assured a second consecutive season with a winning record, entering the homestretch of matches at 13-8 (6-4 GNAC) this season. Emmanuel is in the midst of an intense battle for the second, third, or fourth seed in the upcoming GNAC Postseason, which begins on April 9.

Emmanuel returns to play for the first of their four matches to round out the regular season as they welcome Dean College to the Jean Yawkey Center on March 26 for a 7:00 p.m. match.