MEN’S VOLLEYBALL SPLITS GNAC TRI-MATCH

BOSTON, Mass. (4/1/17) –  The Emmanuel College men's volleyball team was defeated by crosstown rival Emerson College 3-1 (37-35, 25-18, 26-24, 25-23) before bouncing back to beat Mount Ida College 3-0 (25-17, 25-13, 25-11). Emerson defeated Mount Ida 3-0 in the second match (25-20, 25-19, 25-23). The split leaves Emmanuel with an 8-17 record, while the two wins improve Emerson 11-10 and Mount Ida drop to 12-16 after two losses on the day.

Emerson took the first set of the day, but needed extra points to do so defeating the Saints 37-35. The Lions would use the momentum gained from the thrilling first set to take game two from the Saints 25-18.  The Saints battled back to down the Lions in the thrilling third set 26-24.  The fourth frame was tight as well with the Lions edging the Saints 25-23 to close out the first match 3-1.

Mark Piorkowski (Montclair, N.J.) had a game high 28 kills and tallied nine digs for the Lions. Diego Garcia (Honolulu, Hi.) posted the games only double-double with 13 kills and 12 digs. Nick Rusk (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) recorded 46 assists.

Seamus McDonagh (Long Beach, N.Y.) posted a career high 50 assists and was involved in seven blocks for the Saints. Emmanuel had three players with double digit kills, Erik English (Simi Valley, Calif.) 19, Manuel Velez (San Jose, Costa Rica) 13 and John Carroll (Massapequa, N.Y.) 10. Defensively, Alex Silva (Jamaica Plain, Mass.) was involved in seven blocks.

The Saints got off to a hot start against Mount Ida defeating them 25-17 in the opening set. The Mustangs were unable to recover as Emmanuel College cruised passed their familiar foes 25-13 and then 25-11 in the final frame.

English posted eight digs and seven kills for the Saints.  Max Gottuso (Long Beach, N.Y.) played well on both sides of the net recording six digs and six kills. McDonagh tallied 23 helpers in the match.

The Saints are back in action Thursday at 7:00pm where they will travel to College of Fenway and GNAC rival Wentworth.