SAINTS FALL IN THE FIRST SET BEFORE WINNING THE LAST THREE TO TAKE DOWN EMERSON, 3-1

THE BASICS 

Score: Emerson College, 1; Emmanuel College, 3 (25-22, 12-25, 20-25, 22-25)
Records: Emerson College Lions (9-4, GNAC 2-2); Emmanuel College Saints (7-9, GNAC 2-1)
Location: Boston, Mass. – Andy Yosinoff Court
Date: Saturday, March 17^th, 2018

THE LEAD: The Emmanuel College Men's Volleyball team pushed past a first set loss against Emerson College to take the final three sets, led by the offensive attack of junior outside hitter Erik English (Simi Valley, Calif.) and junior opposite hitter Kevin Orsley (San Jose, Calif.) to defeat the Lions in four sets, (22-25, 25-12, 25-20, 25-22), Saturday afternoon in Great Northeast Athletic Conference men's volleyball action.

HOW IT HAPPENED 

SET 1

• The Lions came out strong with a quick 8-3 lead off of a two kills and a service ace by Diego Garcia (Honolulu, Hawaii).
• Emmanuel then went on a four point run to close the gap, 8-7, two of which came from blocks from sophomore middle hitter John Carroll (Massapequa, N.Y.) and two Lion attacking errors. 
• The match remained within one point until the Saints took a three point lead, 19-16, on a kill by English and two attaching errors by Mark Piorkowski (Montclair, N.J.) and Nick Rusk (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.).
• Emerson was able to close out the set on a 6-3 run to take the first, led by late set kills by Piorkowski and Stig Regan (Kailua, Hawaii), 25-22.

SET 2

• Both teams came out of the break with multiple errors to tie the set at 4-4 before the Saints began to pull away with points from three attacking errors, two service errors and kills by English and Orsley, bringing Emmanuel ahead 14-7.
• The Saints continued their march, going on an 8-2 run late in the set on three blocks in a row by English, Alex Silva (Jamaica Plain, Mass.), Seamus McDonagh (Long Beach, N.Y.) to extend the lead, 22-9.
• Rusk and Win Kittivatcharapon (Bangkok, Thailand) for the Lions had two kills late in the match, but McDonagh, Orsley and English finished off the set with three kills as the Saints took the second set, 25-12.

SET 3

• Each team traded back to back points early in the third set, the Lions led by Piorkowski and the Saints by Max Gottuso (Long Beach, N.Y.) to tie the set, 5-5.
• Emerson then went on a 5-0 run to extend the lead 10-5 off of a service ace by Nick Rusk and kill by Piorkowski.
• The Saints then went on a run of their own, scoring ten points to the Lions two points, opening up the lead to 15-12, highlighted by two blocks by Silva, assisted by McDonagh and English.
• Emmanuel closed out the set on three late match kills by English, all assisted by McDonagh, 25-20.

SET 4

• The fourth match began very similarly to the third, with both teams trading points until Emmanuel began to pull away off of back to back kills by Manuel Velez (San Jose, Costa Rica) and Silva, Saints up 10-5.
• The Lions began to inch closer to the Saints through the middle of the set off of three kills in a row by Rusk and three errors by the Saints, closing the lead with Emmanuel still ahead, 17-15.
• Emmanuel never let go of the lead through the end of the set, closing out the match with a kill by Orsley assisted by McDonagh, 25-22.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS 

• English recorded a game-high 18 kills for the Saints, along with five digs, two assists and three assisted blocks.
• Piorkowski pushed the offensive attack of the Lions, recording a team-high 13 kills and nine digs.
• The Saints were able to record a team .274 hitting percentage, while the Lions only recorded a .151 kill percentage on the day.

UP NEXT

• Emmanuel is back in action later today against Wentworth Institute of Technology at 4PM while Emerson will play WIT at 2PM.