SAINTS FALL TO CRIMSON, 3-1, IN HARVARD’S FIRST-EVER GAME AT EMMANUEL
BOSTON, Mass. – Emmanuel College suffered a 3-1 loss to Division I Harvard University in non-conference men’s volleyball action played in the Jean Yawkey Center on Thursday night. The match marked Harvard’s first-ever varsity contest at Emmanuel in any sport. The Saints welcomed the Crimson by battling to a 25-19 victory in the opening set, before Harvard rebounded to take the next three sets, 13-25, 18-25, 19-25.
BOSTON, Mass. – Emmanuel College suffered a 3-1 loss to Division I Harvard University in non-conference men's volleyball action played in the Jean Yawkey Center on Thursday night. The match marked Harvard's first-ever varsity contest at Emmanuel in any sport. The Saints welcomed the Crimson by battling to a 25-19 victory in the opening set, before Harvard rebounded to take the next three sets, 13-25, 18-25, 19-25.
Harvard entered the match coming off a three-set sweep of 13th-ranked MIT on Tuesday night. Emmanuel was coming off a GNAC win over neighboring Wentworth Institute of Technology, a 3-1 victory, on Tuesday night. Thursday night's win sets the Crimson at 11-4 on the season, while the hosts Saints drop to 5-10 overall.
In the first set, the Saints surged out to a 13-7 lead, before the visitors were forced to signal for a timeout. Out of the break, the Crimson went on an 8-3 run of their own, forcing an Emmanuel timeout with the Saints up by just one at 16-15. The hosts rattled off an ensuing 9-4 run to take the 25-19 set one win.
The Crimson led end to end in the second, powering out to a 21-12 lead, before the Saints were forced to call their second timeout of the set. Emmanuel managed just one more point before it was over, as Harvard cruised to the 25-13 win to knot the match at 1-1.
The third set was hotly contested throughout, with several lead changes. Neither team went ahead by more than three points early in the set. With the Saints trailing 19-16, the Crimson put together a 6-2 run to close out the set at 25-18 and take a 2-1 lead in the match. Harvard took a 13-11 lead early in the fourth, before pulling out the 25-19 win to end the match at 3-1.
Caleb Zimmick (Middleton, Wis.) and D.J.White (Hermosa Beach, Calif.) led the Crimson with 7 kills apiece. Michael Owen (Middleton, Wis.) and Nick Madden (San Diego, Calif.) added 6 kills each to balance the attack for the visitors. Junior libero Chris Gibbons (Yorba Linda, Calif.) led the Harvard backrow with 7 digs, while Derek Jansma (Lancaster, N.Y.) dished out 31 assists in the win.
Freshman Barrett Wingard (Dallastown, Pa.) paced the Saints with 10 kills and 6 digs. Ashanti Jackson (Sacramento, Calif.), Zach Whitermore (Whitehall, Pa.) and Julian Hess (Santa Monica, Calif.) notched 6 kills apiece for Emmanuel. Senior setter Nick Updike handed out 33 assists in the effort, while hitting .333 for the match.
The Saints will travel to Beverly, Mass. over the weekend to play in Endicott's March Mania Invitational. Emmanuel will face Kean and MIT on Saturday, as well as Elms and host Endicott on Sunday. Harvard is scheduled to host Sacred Heart University next Wednesday evening in Cambridge, Mass.