RECORDS FALL AS SAINTS SPLIT IN HOME TRI-MATCH
March 21, 2009
BOSTON, Mass. - The Emmanuel College Men's Volleyball Team set three new program records on Saturday afternoon, when the Saints split in their last regular season home tri-match. The 2009 Emmanuel squad set a new program-record for wins in a season (16) on Saturday afternoon, when the Saints swept Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) opponent Johnson & Wales University, 30-15, 30-20, 30-18. Emmanuel then dropped a five-set nailbiter to non-conference foe SUNY New Paltz, 30-25, 35-33, 26-30, 20-30, 13-15. Two individual program-records also fell and a career milestone was achieved during the two matches. The Saints now stand at 16-11 overall and 8-3 in GNAC play.
Emmanuel's junior setter Taylor Lowe (Malibu, Calif.) entered today's tri-match just seven assists shy of the program-record for assists in a career. Early in the first set vs. JWU, Lowe dished out his seventh assist of the match and tied the Emmanuel record of 2,393 assists set by Patrick Bemis back in 2006. Moments later, Lowe broke the record with his eighth assist of the day and became Emmanuel's all-time assist leader.
Junior captain Michael Townsend (Beaverdam, Va.) made two marks on the Emmanuel record books today. Townsend needed just 16 kills to surpass the Emmanuel program-record for kills in a season. The former mark was set by Stephen Yates, when he notched 369 kills in 2006. Townsend also entered today's tri-match 38 kills shy of 1,000 in his collegiate career. The outside hitter achieved his first milestone when he slammed down his 16th and final kill of the JWU match. Townsend then eclipsed the 1,000-kill plateau with his final kill of the afternoon, which came in the fifth set of Emmanuel's loss to New Paltz. He is just the third player in program history to record 1,000 career kills.
Emmanuel eased past JWU in the opening match, 30-15, 30-20, 30-18. The Saints were led by Townsend's 16 kills and 3 service aces. Sophomore outside hitter Curtis Abram (San Luis Obispo, Calif.) had a near double-double with 11 kills and 9 digs. Sophomores Matt Salvi (Trumbull, Conn.) and Keoni Rabaino (Tucson, Ariz.) smashed down 8 and 7 kills, respectively. The two also combined for four blocks in the win. Lowe dished out 26 assists, while sophomore captain Jacob DeLuise (Wakefield, R.I.) scooped up a team-high 10 digs for the Saints.
With the win, the Saints improved to 8-3 in GNAC play and currently hold sole ownership of second place in the conference. With their loss to the Saints, the Wildcats fell to 7-13 overall and 5-5 in conference play. In the second match of the day, SUNY New Paltz swept the Wildcats, 30-25, 30-19, 30-19. In the third match of the afternoon, Emmanuel took New Paltz into five sets, before dropping the 3-2 decision. The Hawks stand in fourth place in the highly competitive Metro Division of the North East Collegiate Volleyball Association (NECVA). With today's sweep, New Paltz improved to 21-11 on the season.
The Saints stormed out to a two set lead with 30-25 and 35-33 wins early on. The Hawks then rallied to win the next two, 30-26 and 30-20, and force a fifth and final set. In set five, the Saints gave away six points on unforced errors, including 3 serving errors and 3 hitting errors. The fifth set and the match ended with a two-point decision, 15-13, in favor of the Hawks.
Townsend recorded a double-double with 22 kills and 13 digs, to go along with his team-high 4 aces. Abram also notched 22 kills and picked up 9 digs and 2 blocks. DeLuise anchored the Saints' backrow with 21 digs, while Lowe dished out 55 more assists and totaled 16 digs and a team-high 5 blocks. Salvi and Rabaino combined for 17 kills and 6 blocks in the effort.
Emmanuel will play again on Tuesday night (3/24) at Emerson College. The Saints will take on the Lions in a 7pm start at Emerson's Piano Row Gymnasium.