ENGLISH PROPELS MEN’S VOLLEYBALL PAST JWU IN GNAC QUARTERFINALS, 3-1

BOSTON, Mass. – Freshman outside hitter Erik English (Simi Valley, Calif.) registered a season-high 19 kills to propel No. 4 Emmanuel College past No. 5 Johnson & Wales University, 3-1 (17-25, 25-23, 25-23, 25-18), Tuesday evening in the quarterfinals of the Great Northeast Athletic Conference men's volleyball tournament. The Saints improve to 19-11 on the year while the loss ends the Wildcats 2016 campaign with a 15-16 overall record. EC advances to the GNAC semifinals and will head to No. 1 Wentworth Institute of Technology on Thursday evening.

Johnson & Wales opened the match strong by taking the first set, 25-17, behind a strong net presence by senior middle blocker Rakeem Malone (St. Thomas, US Virgin Islands). Malone posted five kills on five swings in the frame to help the Wildcats hit a combined .542 from the floor. Midway through the set, JWU held a 15-13 lead before rolling off six consecutive points behind the service game of senior middle hitter Kyle Eva (Charlestown, R.I.) to take control of the action and cruise to the eight point win.

Emmanuel responded in the second set with English serving as the spark plug, collecting six kills during the frame to help EC even the match at 1-1 following a 25-23 win. The Wildcats held an early lead in the set but after tying the score at 6-6, Emmanuel seniors Garrett McGarry (Chicago, Ill.) and Barrett Wingard (York, Pa.) smashed back-to-back kills to give the Saints the lead for good in the set. The hosts hit .345 as a team while hold Johnson & Wales to just a .160 clip in the set.

In the all-important third set, both squads came to play offensively as JWU posted a .577 hitting percentage with 15 kills and no errors on 26 swings compared to Emmanuel's .478 hitting slate. The difference came down to the service game as Johnson & Wales registered eight service errors compared to only three by EC. Wingard led all players with six kills in the set while freshman outside hitter Alex Seda (San Juan, Puerto Rico) paced JWU with five winners during the 25-23 win for the Saints.

The fourth and final set had a great playoff feel right from the start at Johnson & Wales raced out to an early two point lead following a kill by Malone to make it 3-2. Emmanuel didn't let the Wildcats take control as the squads traded points to an 8-8 score. English slammed home a winner to make it 9-8 and from that point on the hosts would not relinquish the lead. Leading 12-11, Emmanuel rattled off a 6-1 run to take a comfortable 18-12 lead after a kill by senior outside hitter Drew Jordan (Braintree, Mass.). Sensing the Wildcats were down, the Saints went for the knockout blow and executed down the stretch to pull off the 25-18 win, securing the match with a 3-1 victory.

English's 19 kills were a match high as the rookie also posted an efficient .500 hitting percentage in the win. Wingard added 14 kills while Jordan chipped in with seven winners. Junior setter Jorge Rojas (San Juan, Puerto Rico) collected 36 assists and senior libero paced the defensive front with a match-high 14 digs.

Seda led the way for the Wildcats with a team-high 12 kills while Malone and Eva added 10 kills each. Rookie setter Cameron Ponce (San Jose, Calif.) dished out 36 helpers while also registered a team-high eight digs.

The Saints will look to pull off an upset on Thursday evening against a very familiar foe in Wentworth. The Leopards landed the No. 1 seed and first round bye after going 12-2 in GNAC play during the regular season. Emmanuel handed WIT one of their two losses in their last meeting on March 17. Game time is set for 7:00 PM at Tansey Gymnasium.