HESS LEADS MEN’S VOLLEYBALL OVER JWU IN HOME-OPENER

BOSTON, Mass. – Freshman middle hitter Julian Hess (Santa Monica, Calif.) collected 12 kills on 14 swings to lead the Emmanuel College men's volleyball team past Johnson & Wales University, 3-0 (25-19, 26-24, 25-16), Thursday evening at the Jean Yawkey Center. With the victory, the Saints improve to 2-3 on the year and open up Great Northeast Athletic Conference play with a 1-0 mark while the loss drops the Wildcats to 2-1 and 1-1 in the GNAC.

In the opening set, the Saints jumped out to a quick 6-0 lead as Hess slammed home three winners to jumpstart the run. After an early timeout, Johnson & Wales was able to settle down and cut the lead to 13-10 and then the squads would exchange points until a 19-16 score. The Wildcats would push two consecutive points to cut the lead to 19-18 but the hosts would answer with five consecutive points including a pair of aces by senior setter Nick Updike to propel EC to the 25-19 victory.

The action was even in the early goings of the second frame as the teams would exchange points to an 8-8 score. Johnson & Wales would push ahead to a 14-11 lead and continue to stay in control with a 17-13 cushion before the Saints would turn it up to make a rally. Four straight points from Emmanuel and an ace by sophomore outside hitter Brett Pettis (Haverhill, Mass.) evened the frame at 17-all and gave EC the momentum going forward. The Wildcats would continue to answer, going point-for-point with the hosts all the way to 24-24. Updike would put it at set-point with an ace and sealed the 26-24 win as the Wildcats forced an error to end the frame.

In the final set, Emmanuel jumped out to another big lead at 8-1 before extending it to 13-6. A kill by Hess made it 15-7 and they would continue to push all the way to 24-14. The Wildcats made a late push rattling off a pair of points behind the service of sophomore right side hitter Matt Jenkins (Damascus, Md.) before Emmanuel would seal its first GNAC victory of the season, taking the set 25-16.

Hess led the way for the Saints hitting a monstrous .786 from the floor while sophomore outside hitter Zach Whitermore (Whitehall, Pa.) chipped in with seven kills and a .385 hitting percentage. Updike ran the offensive show with 36 helpers and a match-high six aces.

For the Wildcats, junior middle blocker Dan Struebing (Coventry, R.I.) led the way with a team-high five kills while junior outside hitter Shawn Kennedy (West Barnstable, Mass.) and sophomore middle hitter Don Dias (Scituate, Mass.) each added four kills. Dias also rattled off a team-high five aces while sophomore setter J.J. Bessette (Coventry, R.I.) dished out 17 assists.

The Saints will return to action on Sunday, Feb. 10 when they host Springfield College at 2:00 PM. The Pride are currently the No. 1 ranked team in the most recent AVCA DIII Coaches Poll. The Wildcats are back on Monday, Feb. 11 when they head to Newton, Mass. to take on Mount Ida College in another GNAC battle scheduled for 6:00 PM.