KESSLER AND HESS POWER MEN’S VOLLEYBALL TO GNAC FINALS

BOSTON, Mass. – Sophomore right side hitter Ryan Kessler (Santa Clarita, Calif.) and freshman middle hitter Julian Hess (Santa Monica, Calif.) combined for 21 kills and hitting an incredible .913 to power the Emmanuel College men's volleyball team past Emerson College, 3-0 (25-14, 25-17, 25-12), Thursday evening at the Jean Yawkey Center in front of a crowd of 175 fans. With the victory, the Saints improve to 18-13 on the year and advance to the GNAC Finals on Saturday afternoon against No. 1 seed Rivier University. The loss ends the Lions season with an overall record of 12-17.

The Saints jumped out to a 7-5 first set lead following an ace by Hess before sophomore setter Sean Baxley (Saint James, N.Y.) rattled off an ace of his own to extend the lead to 12-8. Emmanuel would push the lead to 18-12 following a kill by Hess that brought the crowd to life. Senior setter Nick Updike put the set away with a kill to account for the 25-14 score and give the hosts a 1-0 lead in the match.

In the second set, Emmanuel opened up the action with a 5-3 lead but the Lions answered and took a 7-6 lead following by sophomore middle hitter Connor Burton (Valencia, Calif.). Kills by sophomore outside hitter Ashanti Jackson (Santa Monica, Calif.) and Kessler helped Emmanuel regain a 10-7 advantage in which they would not lose the rest of the set. The squads would trade points to get to 13-10 before the Saints pushed off three consecutive points capped by another Baxley ace to make it 16-10. Another Kessler killed pushed the hosts lead to 22-14 before senior outside hitter Eric Doherty (Millis, Mass.) cut the lead to 24-17 but the Saints would close out the set with a kill from Hess to take the 2-0 stronghold on the match.

In the final set, the squads traded points before the Saints took control of the action early on with a kill from sophomore middle hitter Wyatt Cooper (Ridgefield, Conn.) to give them a 4-3 lead in which they would not surrender. Emerson freshman outside hitter Jackson Wiley (Los Angeles, Calif.) helped keep things close early with a kill to make it 10-6 but the Saints continued to push as Hess capped a three-point spurt with a kill to make it 13-6. The Lions would respond with a three-point run of their own with another Wiley kill followed by a kill from senior rightside hitter Nadav Swarttz (Newton, Mass.) to make it 13-9. Jackson would extend the Emmanuel lead to 15-9 with back-to-back kills and Cooper continued his strong play in the middle with a kill to make it 19-11. Hess and Kessler closed out the match for the Saints, each recording kills down the stretch to give Emmanuel the 25-13 win in the final frame to take the match, 3-0.

Kessler finished the match with a game-high 11 kills and set a new single-match record with his .917 attacking percentage. Hess wasn't far behind with a .909 attacking percentage and 10 kills. Jackson finished with nine kills and a match-high nine digs while Updike ran the offensive show with 39 assists.

Wiley finished with a team-best five kills while freshman outside hitter Alex Frapech (Woodland Hills, Calif.) and Swarttz each chipped in with four kills for the Lions. Freshman libero Jared Gross paced the defensive effort with eight digs.

The Saints advance to Saturday's GNAC Finals to take on Rivier University in a rematch of last year's final as well as the 2010, 2009 and 2008 final. Rivier has defeated the Saints in each championship match by a 3-0 score. The two squads have faced off twice this season with Rivier taking both matches by a 3-1 score. Emmanuel is 2-25 all-time against the Raiders dating back to their first meeting in 2003.

The GNAC Championship is scheduled for a 1:00 PM start at the Muldoon Center on the campus of Rivier University. The game will also be broadcast live on the web here.