ENGLISH, WINGARD LEAD SAINTS TO SWEEP OF MUSTANGS

NEWTON, Mass. – Freshman Erik English's (Simi Valley, Calif.) 12 kills led the Emmanuel College men's volleyball team to a 3-0 win over Mount Ida College in Great Northeaster Athletic Conference (GNAC) play on Thursday night.

The Mustangs drop to 7-22 on the year and 1-11 in the conference after Emmanuel swept them away with game scores of 25-15, 25-15, and 25-18.

The matching fire power of English (Simi Valley, Calif.), who led the Saints in kills and Barrett Wingard (York, Pa.), who tallied 11 kills himself, helped Emmanuel to the three-set victory as they improved to 17-10 (7-5 GNAC).

Senior Jimmy Wessel (DeKalb, Ill.) picked up 13 assists and six digs, while Michael McCullough (Southborough, Mass.) added six assists and four digs and Gylan Flemming (Cambridge, Mass.) dug out three balls in his final game in Mustang City.

The Emmanuel offense ran through Jorge Rojas (San Juan, P.R.), who posted 32 assists, while libero Kevin Gallegos (Los Angeles, Calif.) recorded a game-high 8 digs.

Emmanuel jumped out to a one set lead by taking an 11-11 game and ending the first set on a 14-4 run, led by kills from Wingard, English and Garrett McGary (Chicago, Ill.), who had three kills and was in on three blocks.

In the second set, Peter Griffenkranz (Deer Park, N.Y.), who had seven kills in the game, got the Mustangs off to the lead, but Rojas served the visitors to a 5-0 run that extended their lead from 13-10 to 18-10 en route to an identical score victory.

Mount Ida held close in the final set, pulling within three points at 18-15 on three straight service aces served by Ames, but two kills by English down the stretch helped the Saints finish on a 7-3 run, with Jordan Manchester (Wethersfield, Conn.) sealing the win with one of his two kills.

Freshman TJ Nicholas (Shelton, Conn.) had three kills in the Mustang loss, while Drew Jordan (Braintree, Mass.) added five kills, two digs and a solo block for the Saints, who hit .440 and .458 in the final two sets for a .356 hitting percentage on the night.

Mount Ida concludes its 2016 season on Saturday afternoon when they travel to New Haven, Conn. for a GNAC tri-match against Albertus Magnus and Rivier, starting at 11:00 AM.

The Saints will continue to jockey for playoff position with a crucial home tri-match against Johnson & Wales (12 pm) and Lasell (4 pm) in Boston the same day. Emmanuel's 2016 senior class will be honored prior to the 4:00 p.m. match against Lasell.