SAINTS WIN FIFTH STRAIGHT WITH 3-0 VICTORY OVER CHARGERS

NEW LONDON, N.H. – March 19, 2019 – The Emmanuel College men's volleyball topped Colby-Sawyer College, 3-0, in Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) action Tuesday evening. The Saints won by scores of 25-13, 25-14, and 25-10.

Emmanuel improves to 15-9 overall and 4-2 in conference play. The Saints and Chargers will meet again this weekend as Emmanuel hosts a GNAC tri-match on Saturday. Regis will be the third team to travel to Boston. Colby-Sawyer drops to 7-8 overall and 0-6 in the GNAC. The team will play next at Lasell on Thursday night. 

Emmanuel was led by a 12-kill effort from senior Erik English (Simi Valley, Calif.). He hit .360 and added four aces and four blocks. Junior setter Seamus McDonagh (Long Beach, N.Y.) finished with 31 assists, four digs, three kills and three blocks. Junior Max Gottuso (Long Beach, N.Y.) collected a match-high nine digs. Senior Alex Silva (Jamaica Plain, Mass.) added five kills and five blocks, while junior John Carroll (Massapequa, N.Y.) hit .667 to finish with six kills.

Junior Patrick Coffey (Westford, Mass.) had a team-best three kills. First-year AJ Gnieski (Needham, Mass.) finished with nine assists, four digs and a solo block. Senior Marc Flaherty (North Reading, Mass.) led the team with five digs and got his first kill of the season. Junior Zach Allen (Candia, N.H.) posted two aces and two digs. 

The opening set saw four ties and a pair of lead changes before Emmanuel's offense took over. A Yannick Gonsalves (Oak Bluffs, Mass.) gave Colby-Sawyer an early 5-4 lead, but Emmanuel went on a 10-2 run to lead 14-7. The Saints used a balanced attack throughout the frame with six players posting at least one kill. The team hit .538 to win 25-13.

The visitors led the second set from the opening serve. Emmanuel raced out to a 9-2 advantage, capped by a John Carroll kill, to force a Colby-Sawyer timeout. Despite the Saints hitting .100 in the set, they were able to cruise to a 25-14 behind strong defensive play at the net. Emmanuel had 5.5 blocks in the set.

The Saints found the attacking rhythm once again in the third set and hit an impressive .609 with 16 kills and just two errors. The set was tied 4-4 early on, but behind strong serving from sophomore Mike Kokoros (Braintree, Mass.) Emmanuel scored nine points in a row to take a 13-4 lead and never look back. English had six kills in the frame.

Emmanuel returns to action on Saturday, March 23 when they host a GNAC tri-match with Regis College and Colby-Sawyer College.

*Release courtesy of Colby-Sawyer College Athletics