MEN'S VOLLEYBALL THUMPS PINE MANOR IN SWEEP; ENGLISH SLAMS 1,000TH CAREER KILL

THE BASICS 

Scores: Emmanuel College, 3; Pine Manor College, 0 (25-8, 25-5, 25-4)
Emmanuel College, 3; Pine Manor College, 0 (25-6, 25-5, 25-9)
Records: Emmanuel College Saints (10-6, 0-2 GNAC); Pine Manor College Gators (2-9 overall)
Location: Chestnut Hill, Mass. – Brunelli Court
Date: Thursday, February 28, 2019

THE LEAD: The Emmanuel College Men's Volleyball team picked up a pair of 3-0 victories over Pine Manor College Thursday evening at Brunelli Court. EC senior outside hitter Erik English (Simi Valley, Calif.) picked up his 1,000th career kill during the sweep to become the sixth player in program history to reach the milestone.

HOW IT HAPPENED 

MATCH 1

• Emmanuel raced out to a 10-1 lead in the opening match to set the tone for the night behind the strong service game of English.
• The Saints held the Gators to a negative hitting percentage in all three sets and combined to swing at an impressive .526 clip as a team in the sweep.
• Five players collected 5+ kills in the win including a match-high of eight kills by both English and junior middle hitter Justyn Schueler (Trumbull, Conn.).

MATCH 2

• Pine Manor held an early 2-1 lead in the opening set before the Saints took control of the action by scoring 16 consecutive points behind the service game of sophomore Mike Kokoros (Braintree, Mass.).
• Junior middle hitter John Carroll (Massapequa, N.Y.) set a new Emmanuel single-match record with a 1.000 hitting percentage, going 11-0-11 on the night with his 11 kills on 11 swings.
• English added nine kills while junior Max Gottuso (Long Beach, N.Y.) also chipped in with a season-high nine kills in the win.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS 

• English was two kills shy of a triple-double stat line in the opening win, collecting eight kills, 10 aces and 13 digs. He now has 1,008 career kills to rank fifth all-time and is the first Saints to reach the milestone since Ashanti Jackson '15 joined the Grand Club in 2015.
• Junior setter Seamus McDonagh (Long Beach, N.Y.) combined to dish out 63 assists in the two wins.
• Emmanuel collected 35 total service aces over the two matches.
• JohnieJoel Jackson paced the Gators with five kills on the night.
• The win was the Saints fifth consecutive victory marking the program's first five-match winning streak since the 2014 season.

UP NEXT

• Emmanuel is now idle until Thursday, March 7 when they head to the west coast for four matches at the Cal-Lu-Fornia Classic. The Saints open the tournament against UC Santa Cruz on Thursday at 10:00 PM.