Saints Beat Baruch, Fall to Nichols on First Day of Fenway Classic

BOSTON – Saints Men's Volleyball went 1-1 on Andy Yosinoff Court during the first day of the Inaugural Fenway Classic, hosted by Wentworth and Emmanuel, on Saturday afternoon. In their first match of the day, the Saints defeated the Baruch College Bearcats (1-4) 3-0 (25-11, 25-21, 25-21) to earn their first victory of the season. The Saints fell to the Nichols College Bison (5-0) in their second match of the day 3-0 (25-19, 25-17, 25-18).

Saints Sweep Baruch, Earn First Win of Season in Fenway Classic Opener

After falling behind 3-2 in the first set of the match, the Saints went on a 7-0 run to put themselves ahead 8-3 in the early stages of set one. Emmanuel continued to extend their lead and a Michael Shelley (San Francisco, Calif.) kill followed by a Bearcats attack error led to a Baruch timeout with the Saints leading 16-6. Emmanuel would go on to take a 1-0 lead with a 25-11 first set victory. The Saints finished with 15 kills in the set.

The second set was a back-and-forth battle between the two sides. Emmanuel was unable to take a lead throughout the majority of the set but never fell behind the Bearcats by more than three. Locked at 21-21, Trey Guest (Newington, Conn.) rose up for a monster kill to give the Saints a one-point lead. Emmanuel went on to win the next three points, finishing the set on a 4-0 run and taking a 2-0 lead with a 25-21 set two victory.

After taking a 5-4 lead early in the third set off another Trey Guest kill, the Saints never trailed for the remainder of the match. Emmanuel led by as many as five in the final set. A block from both Aiden McGowen (Marston Mills, Mass.) and Dominic DeFerrari (Miami, Fla.) secured a 25-21 third set win for the home team and 3-0 (25-11, 25-21, 25-21) victory for the Saints' first win of the season.

Shelley led the match with 14 kills followed by Trey Guest with 10 for the Saints. DeFerrari finished with match-high 34 assists. Guest and DeFerrari also contributed seven digs apiece. For the visitors, Peter Gavroff (New York, N.Y.) led with six kills while Ryan Oommen (Elmont, N.Y.) finished with 13 assists.

Nichols Downs Emmanuel 3-0 to Remain Undefeated

Nichols led wire to wire in the first set of the Saints' second match of the day. Emmanuel kept it close throughout the set, but the visitors were able to pull away by winning six of the final eight points. A kill from Dylan Knapp (Weathersfield, Conn.) capped off a 25-19 first set victory and put the Bison up 1-0 in the match.

The Saints, looking to level the match, got off to a solid second set start. Emmanuel led early before the Bison battled back, evening the score at 8-8. Nichols would go on to win six of the next eight points and open up a 14-10 advantage. Despite narrowing the score to just a one-point deficit twice during the remainder of the set, the home side was unable to re-take the lead. Nichols went on to take a 2-0 lead with a 25-17 second set victory.

Much like the second set, the Saints started off with a lead early in the third. An Evan Sachs (Long Island, N.Y.) ace leveled the set at 7-7 for the Bison. After knotting the score again at 9-9, Nichols won five of the next six points to lead 14-10. Nichols controlled the remainder of the match, taking home a 3-0 (25-19, 25-17, 25-18) victory and improving to an impressive 5-0 on the young season.

Michael Shelley led the Saints with 11 kills while Dominic DeFerrari finished with 24 assists. Nick Sciabica (Floral Park, N.Y.) led the home side with eight digs. For Nichols, Knapp led the way with 11 kills while Carlos Mercado (Barranquitas, P.R.) contributed a match-high 26 assists.

Up Next:

The Inaugural Fenway Classic continues tomorrow for its second and final day. Baruch will head up the road to Wentworth for matches against #1 Wentworth at noon and Nichols at 2:00 P.M. Nichols will also play in the third match of the day against Wentworth at 4:00 P.M. Emmanuel returns to Andy Yosinoff Court tomorrow for matches against #13 New Paltz State at 12:00 P.M and Endicott at 4:00 P.M.