Men's Volleyball Comes From Two Sets Down, Claim 3-2 GNAC Win at Regis

WESTON, Mass. – After dropping the first two sets on Wednesday night, Emmanuel men's volleyball came all the way back to defeat the Regis Pride, 3-2 (30-32, 23-25, 25-22, 25-16, 20-18), in a Great Northeast Athletic Conference clash on Higgins Court.

In what stands to be a tight race for a top seed in the GNAC Postseason, the Saints have helped their cause with a season sweep over the Pride. Just 11 days ago at Emmanuel, the Saints took down the Pride in straight sets. But tonight's victory could loom large in future tiebreaking scenarios as the Saints improve to 8-6 (3-2 GNAC) while the Pride drop to 8-7 (4-2 GNAC).

In the fifth, carrying all the momentum, the Saints led 13-9 and appeared on cruise control to complete the comeback. But just as quickly as they took the lead, three consecutive errors, one serving, and two attacking, brought Regis right back into play, now trailing 13-12.

A Saints kill for sophomore Michael Shelley (San Francisco, Calif.) gave Emmanuel a 14-12, fifth-set lead, setting up the first of many match points. Shelley served for the match but a service error helped the Pride defend one match point.

It was then the Pride who had their chance after back-to-back aces for first-year Grant Wojcik (Bellingham, Mass.) gave Regis match point at 15-14. After an Emmanuel timeout, Wojcik's next serve traveled long and out of bounds, tying the fifth set at 15-15.

The next two match points belonged to Emmanuel at 16-15 and 17-16, but another Saints service error and Shelley attack error helped Regis fend off defeat. The Pride would have one final match point chance at 18-17 but Saints junior Jyles Amirault (Andover, Mass.) slammed the door shut with a kill to tie the set 18-18.

After a Pride attack error gave the Saints another match point, Amirault provided one final blow with his only service ace of the match, clinching the comeback for a fifth-set win of 20-18. All told, the Saints created five match point chances before clinching the win while the Pride had two opportunities to hold on for the victory.

Errors proved to be the story of the night as neither team hit well through the opening four sets as Regis registered the highest hitting percentage through that span with a first set percentage of .222. It wasn't until the Saints fifth set, a match-best .381, that broke the high-error evening.

In total, the Saints and Pride had a season-high for attack errors with 26 and 37, respectively. Emmanuel's .172 attack percentage is their third-lowest in the month of February as was the .114 percentage from Regis.

Shelley finished the night with a match-high 24 kills to go along with a career-high 14 digs and six service aces. Sophomore Trey Guest (Newington, Conn.) added 12 kills and a career-high 19 digs while matching a career-best with seven total blocks. Fellow sophomore Dominic DeFerrari (Miami, Fla.) set a new assists mark for his career, passing out 48 helpers on the night.

Pride senior Joseph Perez (Miami, Fla.) had a team-high 17 kills, hitting .243 on the night. First-year Brandon Valdes (Miami, Fla.) added a double-double of 11 kills and 10 digs while rookie Andrew Matzouranis (North Andover, Mass.) chipped in with 10 kills.

The Saints have two weeks off, returning to action after Spring Break with a March 13 home match with Elms at 7:00 p.m. The Pride return for a tri-match on March 9 at MIT with the Engineers and Buffalo State.