SAINTS CLINCH FOUR SEED IN GNAC TOURNAMENT WITH SENIOR DAY SPLIT

BOSTON, Mass. - The Emmanuel College men's volleyball team split the final two matches of the regular season in a tri-match on Saturday at the Emmanuel College Gymnasium. The Saints defeated Johnson & Wales, 3-1 (22-25, 25-22, 30-28, 25-16), and were defeated by Lasell, 3-1 (25-21, 25-23, 23-25, 25-16). The Lasers swept the Wildcats in the middle match (25-14, 29-27, 25-23).

With the day's results, the Saints earned the fourth seed in the 2016 Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) tournament, meaning they'll meet the Wildcats again on Tuesday evening in Boston. 

EMMANUEL vs. JOHNSON & WALES

The Saints and Wildcats battled through four hard-fought sets in a match that would determine home-court advantage in the opening round of the GNAC tournament. 

The opening set started in the home team's favor, as a Drew Jordan (Braintree, Mass.) kill gave the Saints a 7-5 lead. But, the Wildcats wasted no time in fighting back, scoring 11 of 13 points to jump ahead 16-9. That run was powered by pairs of kills from junior Brendan Baker (Providence, R.I.), senior Rakeem Malone (St. Thomas, USVI), and sophomore Kanila Chang (Orlando, Fla.), along with two aces by freshman Cameron Ponce (San Jose, Calif.)

The hosts fought all the way back to within one point after a kill by freshman Erik English (Simi Valley, Calif.) made it 20-19, but Malone and freshman Alex Seda (San Juan, P.R.) combined for four more kills down the stretch to power JWU to the 25-22 win in the opening set.

Neither team led by more than three points in the second set, as both sides traded small rallies and saw multiple lead changes. Near the end of the set, with JWU leading 20-18, Emmanuel head coach Bori May used a timeout and saw his team come out with a vengeance. Two kills each by senior Barrett Wingard (York, Pa.) and freshman Kevin Orsley (San Jose, Calif.) contributed to a 7-2 run that wrapped up the set and evened the match at 1-1.

The third set featured the match's largest lead, as JWU junior Jackson Steigerwald (Penfield, N.Y.) rattled off eight straight points on serve to open the set.

The Wildcats tried to hold of an Emmanuel charge, taking the lead deep into the frame at 22-20 after a kill by Malone. Once again though, the Saints held strong, scoring three straight points to take a 23-22 lead. 

The teams then traded the next 12 points, setting up an Emmanuel set point after a Ponce service error. With the large home crowd on their feet, Jordan toed the service line and drilled an ace to clinch the set at 30-28.

In the final set, both sides took 17 of the first 34 points, once again remaining close for the majority of the frame until Emmanuel's killer instinct kicked in. 

Beginning with a kill by Orsley, the Saints took off on a match-ending 8-2 run to earn the victory and the #4 seed in the GNAC Tournament. Orsley and Wingard had three kills each over the 10-point span.

LASELL vs. JOHNSON & WALES

The now #2-seeded Lasell Lasers dominated from the get-go in a sweep of Johnson & Wales. The Lasers, led by junior Patrick MacDonald (Floral Park, N.Y.) and senior Ryan Jackson (Canton, Ohio), jumped out to a 15-5 lead in the opening set. MacDonald then earned kills on three of the last four Lasell points to help close of the set at 25-14.

The Wildcats showed fight in each of the final two sets, leading both of them deep into each frame. However, with JWU in their second match of the day, the Lasers were able to find ways to score late in both sets to erase the JWU leads and close out the 3-0 sweep. 

MacDonald and Jackson combined for 31 kills in the match, while the Wildcats only had 32 as a team. 

EMMANUEL vs. LASELL

The Saints came out firing in the opening set, taking an early 8-3 lead after an ace by Orsley. The lead lasted all the way to 16-13, before Jackson and freshman Andy Henriquez (Lawrence, Mass.) each picked up a kill and Lasell ran off four straight points to take a 17-16 lead.

Emmanuel regained the lead, scoring two points out of a timeout, but the Lasers scored eight of the final 11 points in the frame to take a 1-0 lead in the match.

The second set was a tight battle, as neither team led by more than three points at any time from start to finish. The biggest run of the set came with the Saints trailing 16-13 after a kill by senior Andrew Glenn (Westport, Conn.). Lasell junior Tristan Davis (Rochester, N.Y.) missed on a service error, Wingard nailed an ace, and English buried a kill to tie the score at 16. The Saints scored two more before the Lasers used a timeout, now trailing 18-16.

The visitors responded with a run of their own, scoring nine of the next 14 points to win the set 25-23. MacDonald had four kills in the 9-5 stretch for the Lasers.

Much like the rest of the season, Emmanuel did not go down easily despite trailing 2-0. Deadlocked at 14-14 in the third set, the Saints took advantage of three Lasell attack errors and a Wingard kill and opened up an 18-14 lead. The Lasers would eventually tie things back up at 22, but the momentum had swung for the Saints and Wingard ended the set with a monster spike off of an assist from freshman Andres Saladrigas (Miami, Fla.).

The Saints ran out of gas in the fourth set, and the #2 seed in the upcoming GNAC tournament took advantage. The Saints battled late to pull within three (18-15), but two MacDonald kills bookended a 7-1 run that closed the set and the match. 

TRI-MATCH STATISTICS

Lasell was led by MacDonald, who finished with 36 kills and a hitting percentage of over-.400. Davis had 20 kills and Jackson added 28, while Glenn had 80 assists on the afternoon. 

For the Wildcats, Seda put down 15 kills and Malone had 10. Ponce finished with 49 assists in the pair of losses.

Wingard carried the Saints offensively once again, tallying 39 kills in the split. Orsley had a solid outing as well, earning 14 kills, an ace, and five digs. Jorge Rojas (San Juan P.R.) (36) and Saladrigas (43) combined for 79 of Emmanuel's 84 assists. 

The Saints honored the careers of seniors Wingard, Jordan, Kevin Gallegos (Los Angeles, Calif.), Michael Felix (Mission Hills, Calif.), Garrett McGarry (Chicago, Ill.), and Julian Hess (Santa Monica, Calif.) before the match against Lasell.

Next up for all three teams is the GNAC Tournament. Full schedule and seeding can be found here.