MEN’S VOLLEYBALL ADVANCES TO GNAC SEMIFINALS WITH 3-0 WIN OVER EMERSON

BOSTON, Mass. – Emmanuel College upended Emerson College, 3-0, in the quarterfinal round of the Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) Men's Volleyball Tournament on Tuesday night in the Jean Yawkey Center.  The 3rd-seeded Saints defeated the 6th-seeded Lions by set scores of: 25-15, 25-18 and 25-18.  Emmanuel improves to 17-11 on the season with the win and will advance to take on No. 2 Wentworth Institute of Technology on Thursday night in the GNAC semifinal round.

Emmanuel's ace from Ryan Kessler (Santa Clarita, Calif.) and kill by Ashanti Jackson (Sacramento, Calif.) forced an Emerson timeout with the Saints jumping out in front, 12-7, midway through the first set.  Garrett McGarry's (Chicago, Ill.) kill from the middle put the hosts up, 18-13. McGarry put two more down consecutively at 23-14 and an Emerson error forced the first set-point at 24-14.  Kessler ended it for the Saints with a swing from the middle and EC took set one, 25-15.

Zach Whitermore's (Whitehall, Pa.) ace gave Emmanuel a 12-7 lead again to kick off set two.  Emerson's kill from Connor Burton (Valencia, Calif.) kept things close for the Lions midway through the set, as the visitors trailed, 14-10. Jackson Wiley (Los Angeles, Calif.) and Ben Hillman (South Pasadena, Calif.) found the floor for Emerson to cut the Lions' deficit to 18-15. A 3-0 Emmanuel run, capped with an ace from Whitermore, forced a late Emerson timeout, trailing 21-15.  Michael Felix (Mission Hills, Calif.) and Kessler combined for a block and an Emerson attack error pushed the spread to 23-16.  Kills from McGarry and Jackson ended it with Emmanuel taking a 25-18 set win and a 2-0 lead in the match.

The third set saw Emerson play the Saints closely through the midpoint, with several early ties.  Following an Emmanuel service error with the Saints up, 14-12, Emmanuel then went on an 8-3 run to pull out to a 22-15 advantage.  Included in the run were huge kills from Felix, Kessler and Jackson.  A pair of Emerson attack errors and two kills from Jackson gave the Saints the third set, 25-18 and the 3-0 sweep.

Jackson led the way for Emmanuel with his match-high 14 kills, coming off of 22 swings with just 2 errors for .545 hitting on the night. He added 6 digs and a solo block to his stat line.  McGarry swung at a clip of .300 with 10 kills in 20 attempts, as well as 2 solo and one assisted block.  Whitermore finished with 8 kills and 2 aces, while Kessler added 7 kills and a match-high 4 aces.  Junior setter Sean Baxley (Saint James, N.Y.) dished out 37 assists and Ernie Gurule (Los Angeles, Calif.) picked up 6 digs in the win. The Saints hit .429 as a team with 43 kills in 77 attacks.

Emerson was led by Wiley's 11 kills and 8 digs.  Hillman finished with 7 kills. Jared Gross (Wexford, Pa.) tallied 8 digs and team setter Brendan McGonigle (Los Angeles, Calif.) handed out 24 helpers in the effort for the Lions.

Emmanuel will now advance to the take on the No. 2-seeded Leopards of Wentworth Institute of Technology on Thursday night in the GNAC semifinals. Game time at Wentworth is set for 7:00 PM.  The 25-7 Leopards earned a bye in the first round of the tournament and enter the semifinal on a 10-match win streak.  Live VIDEO of this match will be available courtesy of WIT Sports Information.