MEN’S VOLLEYBALL DOWNS ALBERTUS MAGNUS, 3-0

BOSTON, Mass. – The Emmanuel College men's volleyball team cruised to a 3-0 (25-14, 25-17, 25-15) victory over Albertus Magnus College Saturday afternoon in Great Northeast Athletic Conference action in the Jean Yawkey Center. The Saints improve to 7-9 overall and 5-5 in GNAC play while the loss dips the Falcons to 3-11 and 2-8 in the GNAC.

The squads traded points in the first set to a 5-5 score before the Saints took the lead for good on back to back kills by senior outside hitter Zach Whitermore (Whitehall, Pa.) to make it 7-5. Emmanuel would post a gaudy .462 team hitting percentage (17 kills, 5 errors, 26 attempts) during the set while holding Albertus to a dismal -.048 clip (3 kills, 4 errors, 21 attempts) en route to the 25-14 win.

Emmanuel  stayed in control during the second set powered by five kills each from senior opposite Austin Cockerill (Darian, Conn.) and junior outside Barrett Wingard (York, Pa.). Senior outside hitter Glenn Johnson (Newington, Conn.) paced the Falcons with three kills and a .500 hitting clip in the set but it was not enough to pick Albertus up as EC prevailed, 25-17.

In the final set, Emmanuel senior Ryan Kessler (Santa Clarita, Calif.) was perfect from the floor, connecting on five kills in five swings to lift the Saints to the 25-15 win. Reserves Jordan Manchester (Wethersfield, Conn.) and Cameron Palmer (Damascus, Md.) saw quality time in the set as Manchester collected two kills while Palmer served up an ace to go along with two digs and a block assist.

Kessler and Cockerill each finished with a match-high seven kills, tying teammate Michael Felix (Sylmar, Calif.) who matched the game-high total. Johnson finished with a team-best six kills for the Falcons.

EC senior setter Sean Baxley (Saint James, N.Y.) ran the offensive show for 2+ sets dishing out 34 helpers before being relieved by sophomore Jorge Rojas (San Juan, Puerto Rico) who ended the match with nine assists. For the Falcons, junior setter Justin Tharau (Burlington, Conn.) tallied 11 assists.

The Saints return to action later this afternoon when they host Rivier University at 4:00 PM while the Falcons are set to face the Raiders at 2:00 PM to round out the GNAC tri-match.