McCAFFREY SWINGS SAINTS PAST FALCONS
March 22, 2012
NEW HAVEN, Conn. - Emmanuel College senior Tom McCaffrey (Massapequa, N.Y.) hit an incredible .722 with 14 kills to lead the Saints to a 3-0 sweep of Albertus Magnus in Great Northeast Athletic Conference men's volleyball played on Thursday night. With the win (25-17, 25-15, 25-13), Emmanuel improves to .500 at 9-9 on the season and 7-2 in the league. The loss drops the Falcons to 12-4 overall and 1-4 in GNAC play.
The Saints jumped to an early 5-1 lead, before they extended their advantage to 15-9 on a Falcons' service error. Freshman outside hitter Ashanti Jackson (Sacramento, Calif.), who finished the night with nine kills for the Saints, tallied his third kill of the first set as Emmanuel took a 20-14 lead. The Saints clinched the game one victory with a service ace to end it at 25-17.
In the second set, Emmanuel jumped out to an early lead once again and took home a 25-15 win, backed by a .667 hitting percentage. After the third set was tied up twice in the early going, the Saints went on a 5-1 run to take an 8-4 advantage. The Falcons committed six hitting errors in the frame as Emmanuel tallied 14 kills in 21 attempts to take the 25-13 set victory.
As a team, the Saints recorded 43 kills on the night and hit a combined .529. McCaffrey's 14 kills in 18 swings led the way for Emmanuel. Freshman outside hitter Zach Whitermore (Whitehall, Pa.) was near perfect with 8 kills in 10 swings (.800) to go along with his match-high 4 aces and 3 blocks. Setter Nick Updike finished with 27 assists, while Jackson and Updike combined for 8 digs to lead the Emmanuel backrow.
Carlos Torres (Adjuntas, Puerto Rico) had 23 assists for the Falcons on the night, while Glenn Johnson (Newington, Conn.) tallied a team-best eight kills in 22 tries. Brendan Charamut (Southington, Conn.) added six kills for Albertus along with a team-high four digs. Chase Brinton (Bethany, Conn.) chipped in with five kills and two digs for the Falcons.
Albertus will host two matches on Saturday, March 24 beginning at 10:00 a.m. The Falcons will face Emerson in GNAC play in the first match of the day before taking on Purchase at noon. Emmanuel will play host to Lasell College on Saturday night in a GNAC battle slated to begin at 6:00PM.
- Courtesy of Albertus Magnus College Sports Information