MEN’S VOLLEYBALL RALLIES FOR 3-1 WIN OVER MOUNT SAINT VINCENT

BOSTON, Mass. – After dropping the opening set, the Emmanuel College men's volleyball team rallied for a 3-1 (18-25, 25-22, 27-25, 25-20) win over College of Mount Saint Vincent Saturday afternoon in non-conference action at the Andy Yosinoff Court. The Saints improve to 5-8 overall while the loss drops the Dolphins to 4-8 on the year.

Emmanuel opened the match strong, racing out to a 13-7 lead but the Dolphins rattled off a 6-0 run to even the score at 13-13. After ending the run with a kill by freshman outside hitter Max Gottuso (Long Beach, N.Y.) to put EC on top 14-13, Mount Saint Vincent strung together nine consecutive points to go on top 22-14. Shell-shocked, the Saints were unable to recover as the Dolphins went on to post a 25-18 win in the opening frame.

Mount Saint Vincent continued to roll in the early action of set two jumping out to a 4-0 lead. The lead stayed at four until a 12-8 score when EC sophomore outside hitter Erik English (Simi Valley, Calif.) recorded a kill to spark some life into the hosts. The Saints climbed back to even the score at 17-17 and traded points to a 22-22 score before rolling off the final three points of the set which included an ace from sophomore Kevin Orsley (San Jose, Calif.) and another English kill.

The third set was high contested as neither team led by more than three points in the stanza. Each team had chances to win the set as the Dolphins had two set-points leading 24-23 and 25-24 but Emmanuel rallied for three consecutive points including back-to-back kills by English to lock in the 27-25 win to take a 2-1 lead in the action.

The Dolphins looked poised to extend the action in the fourth set jumping out to an early 7-4 lead following a kill by junior middle Owen Smith (Danbury, Conn.) but the Saints took the lead for good with four consecutive points capped by an ace from freshman middle John Carroll (Massapequa, N.Y.). Once the hosts gained the lead good defense and a smart service game prevailed in a 25-20 win to take the match, 3-1.

English led the Saints with 17 kills, an impressive .438 hitting percentage to go along with a match-high 14 digs. Sophomore middle Alex Silva (Jamaica Plain, Mass.) added 10 kills while rookie setter Seamus McDonagh (Long Beach, N.Y.) posted 39 assists and five kills in the win.

For the Dolphins, senior opposite Tyler Cuculli (Las Vegas, Nev.) recorded a match-high 20 kills to go with five aces. Freshman middle Scott Sawyer (Marston Mills, Mass.) registered 10 kills while junior setter Logan Dickover (Las Vegas, Nev.) dished out a match-best 41 helpers.

The Saints return to action on Wednesday, February 22 when they head to Wentworth for a 7:00 PM match. The Leopards are ranked No. 5 in the most recent AVCA National Poll receiving 165 total votes. Mount Saint Vincent is back in action later today when they take on Emerson College in Boston, Mass.