MEN’S VOLLEYBALL HANDS ALBERTUS MAGNUS FIRST LOSS

BOSTON, Mass. – The Emmanuel College men's volleyball team downed Albertus Magnus College, 3-1 (25-14, 25-17, 18-25, 25-7), in Great Northeast Athletic Conference action Wednesday evening at the Jean Yawkey Center Gymnasium. The Saints, who received two votes in the most recent AVCA nation poll, improve to 6-7 on the year and 3-2 in the GNAC. The loss was the first of the year for the Falcons who fall to 5-1 and 0-1 in GNAC play.

EC never trailed in the opening set en route to a 25-14 victory. The Saints jumped out to an early 4-1 lead following a kill from junior outside hitter Ashanti Jackson (Sacramento, Calif.) and remained in control behind solid play from junior opposite Ryan Kessler (Santa Clarita, Calif.). Kessler led the way with three kills and two aces in the set. The Saints held the Falcons to a negative -.167 hitting percentage while hitting an impressive .467 clip.

Emmanuel took control early in set two but Albertus Magnus kept the action close as a block by the freshman duo of Raymond Torres (Cantano, Puerto Rico) and Justin Tharau (Burlington, Conn.) pulled the Falcons to within two at 10-8. Unfortunately the Falcons would not get any closer as EC pushed forward to the 25-17 win. Junior outside hitter Glenn Johnson (Newington, Conn.) tallied three kills in the frame for the Falcons but EC junior middle Wyatt Cooper (Ridgefield, Conn.) led everyone with five kills in the set.

The Falcons jumped out to an early lead in the third set, on top 3-1 following an Emmanuel hitting error. An ace by Tharau pushed the lead to 7-2 and another service error by the Saints bumped the visitors lead to 13-6. Back-to-back aces by Tharau bumped the Falcons lead to 17-9 forcing EC to burn a timeout. Emmanuel was never able to recover as Albertus took the third set, 25-18. EC hit just .083 in the frame and Johnson slammed home four kills for the visitors. The third set win was the first set the Falcons had ever taken from the Saints since the programs began competing in 2009.

An ace by junior setter Sean Baxley (Saint James, N.Y.) helped Emmanuel rebound to an early 3-0 lead in set four and the hosts would continue to push, leading 5-0 before the Falcons would find the scoring column. A Kessler kill would make it 8-1 and points later an ace from Cooper made it 13-3. Albertus had no answer in the final frame as EC would coast to the 25-7 victory.

Johnson finished the match with 10 kills for the Falcons while EC sophomore middle hitter Garrett McGarry (Chicago, Ill.) connected for a match-high 11 kills. Baxley added 35 assists in the win.

The Saints are idle until Friday, March 7 when they take on Ramapo College in the Endicott College March Mania Tournament. Albertus is back on March 1 when they play Rivier University and Daniel Webster in a tri-match starting at 11:00 AM.