SAINTS FALL TO FANSHAWE IN VOLLEYBALL EXHIBITION MATCH

BOSTON, Mass. – The Emmanuel College Men's Volleyball Team hosted Fanshawe College in an exhibition match on Saturday night in the Jean Yawkey Center to kick off the 2014 season.  The visiting Falcons took care of the Saints in three sets, 25-20, 25-18, 25-17.  Fanshawe traveled down from Canada and took on the Saints as part of a three-match tour of the city, which included a match at MIT on Friday night, as well as a match at Emerson on Sunday.

The Saints played without two key starters in team setter Sean Baxley (Saint James, N.Y.) and outside hitter Ashanti Jackson (Sacramento, Calif.).  The opening set was hotly contested with ten ties in the early going, before the Falcons pulled out the 25-20 win.

Trailing 0-1 in the match, Emmanuel powered out to a 5-1 advantage to open the second, backed by strong serving from Zach Whitermore (Whitehall, Pa.) and Jorge Rojas (San Juan, Puerto Rico).  The Falcons took advantage of several attack errors by the hosts to put together a 5-1 run of their own and tie the set at 6-all.

Fanshawe built a solid mid-set lead utilizing the powerful swings of Mathieu Poulin (Winnipeg, Manitoba) and Scott Brannigan (London, Ontario) to force an EC timeout, with the Saints trailing 16-12.  Out of the timeout, the Falcons went on a 7-4 run to bring the spread to 23-16.  An Emmanuel serving error and a kill by Grant Ward (London, Ontario) ended the second set at 25-18.

The Falcons charged out to a 7-2 lead and never trailed in the third set.  EC battled back and a kill by Drew Jordan (Braintree, Mass.) brought the Saints to within one, trailing 13-12, but they would come no closer.  Poulin and Derek Braun (Ridgetown, Ontario) combined for 10 kills in the third set to power the Falcons to the 25-17 win.

Poulin led Fanshawe with 16 kills, hitting .394 for the match.  Braun added 11 kills and 3 blocks, while Devin Atkinson (London, Ontario) dished out 34 assists for the Falcons.

Whitermore paced the Saints' offense with 10 kills and 4 aces. Wyatt Cooper (Ridgefield, Conn.) found the floor five times to go along with his 5 digs and 3 blocks, while Jordan and Brett Pettis (Haverhill, Mass.) chipped in with four kills apiece.  Rojas dished out 24 assists in his collegiate debut for the Saints.

With the exhibition match under their belts, the Saints will take on the Emmanuel College Alumni in their annual scrimmage next Friday night, January 24th, before opening the regular season at home against Southern Vermont College on Sunday, January 26th.