SAINTS FALL TO NO. 10 RAIDERS, 3-1

NASHUA, N.H. – The Emmanuel College Men's Volleyball Team suffered the first Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) loss of the 2013 season on Wednesday night in the Muldoon Center on the campus of Rivier College.  The Saints lost, 3-1, to the host Raiders, who were ranked 10^th nationally in the most recent American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) poll.  The two perennially strong GNAC teams battled closely throughout with set scores of 17-25, 25-20, 21-25 and 22-25.

With the loss, Emmanuel falls to 3-5 on the season and 2-1 in the league.  Rivier now stands at 7-3 overall and 2-0 in the GNAC.  Rivier has now won 20 consecutive GNAC matches, dating back to March 1, 2011 when they dropped a five-set match to the Saints at Emmanuel.

The host Raiders led end to end in the opening set on Wednesday night, building their lead throughout and ultimately ending with an eight-point spread at 25-17.  This would be Rivier's largest advantage of the night, however, as the Saints took set two and led for a good portion of sets three and four.

With set two knotted at 10-all, the Saints went on a 5-0 run, backed by strong serving from sophomore Ryan Kessler (Santa Clarita, Calif.) and the offensive fire power of freshman Julian Hess (Santa Monica, Calif.).  Hess, who was named the GNAC Rookie of the Week for the second consecutive week, would finish the night with 8 kills for the Saints.  Sophomore Ashanti Jackson (Sacramento, Calif.) registered three kills down the stretch and Emmanuel pulled out the 25-20 set two win and tied the match at 1-1.

The Saints surged out to a 17-13 lead in the third after a kill by Zach Whitermore (Whitehall, Pa.), but the Raiders put together a 5-0 run of their own to take an 18-17 edge.  The hosts never looked back and finished the set with a 12-4 run en route to their 25-21 set three victory.

Game four featured Emmanuel building a six-point lead at 15-9 after a Kessler kill.  The Raiders then battled to a 20-20 tie, before pulling out the 25-22 set four win and finished the match off at 3-1.

Hess was one of four different Saints to record 8 kills in the effort for Emmanuel.  Along with Hess, Kessler slammed down 8 and recorded a .615 hitting percentage. Jackson and Whitermore also tallied 8 kills apiece, while senior setter Nick Updike dished out 34 assists and fired off 4 aces.  Freshman libero Ernie Gurule (Los Angeles, Calif.) picked up 10 digs in the loss.

The Raiders were led by senior Steve Visentin (Cheshire, Conn.) who had 39 assists and 6 digs. Sophomore Chris Markuson (Cupertino, Calif) recorded 19 kills to lead both teams while junior Matt Bynon (Burnt Hills, N.Y.) had 10 digs. Visentin was named both the GNAC Player of the Week and the ECAC Division III National Player of the Week earlier this afternoon.

Both programs will be back in action this weekend as they will compete in the 2013 Baruch College Invitational in New York City.  Emmanuel is facing a tough weekend schedule, as the Saints are slated to square off against No. 2 Nazareth and No. 12 Stevenson on Saturday and No. 4 Stevens Tech and No. 11 Elmira on Sunday.