VOLLEYBALL TEAM SWEEPS NEWBURY IN FINAL HOME MATCH
March 24, 2011
BOSTON, Mass. - Emmanuel College upended the visiting Nighthawks of Newbury College, 3-0, in the final home men's volleyball match of the 2011 season. The Saints cruised to 25-13 wins in the first and second sets, before holding off the Nighthawks, 31-29, in set three. Emmanuel is now just one victory shy of the program record they set last season with 27 wins. The Saints are 26-7 on the season, while Newbury dropped to 21-11 with the loss.
Emmanuel quickly doubled up the visitors' score, 10-5 in game one, on a stuff by Thomas McCaffrey (Massapequa, N.Y.). A kill from the left side by senior opposite Keoni Rabaino (Tucson, Ariz.) pushed the Saints lead to 17-10. Emmanuel then took a double-figure lead at 23-13, forcing a Nighthawks' timeout. The Saints rattled off two more points out of the timeout, culminating with a smash down the middle by McCaffrey, which ended the set, 25-13.
Junior outside hitter Christopher Chin (Brockton, Mass.) kept the Nighthawks in the game early in set two with a kill, followed by an ace, as the Saints led, 13-10. A cross-court swing by Curtis Abram (San Luis Obispo, Calif.) gave EC a 19-12 advantage. The Saints then went on a 6-1 run, which ended with an Abram kill, as Emmanuel took game two, 25-13.
Kills by Newbury's Max Daley (Cranston, R.I.) and James Beck (Havre De Grace, Md.) tied the set at 4-all in game three. Beck then served off an ace to give the visitors their first lead of the match. Newbury managed to go up, 10-6 and forced a timeout by the Saints. A kill by Emmanuel sophomore Zachary Caron (Hope, R.I.) helped the Saints chip away. An Abram ace cut Emmanuel's deficit to four points at 17-13.
Sophomore Alex McKeen (Stoughton, Mass.) served off a couple points to help the Saints inch closer, as the hosts trailed, 20-18, late in the set. Consecutive kills by Abram made it a one-point game (23-22), as the momentum crossed the net. The game would then see seven ties before it was over. McCaffrey fired off an ace to tie the game at 23 and force a Newbury timeout. A Newbury kill by Beck, followed by another Abram smash, knotted the set at 24-all. After five more ties, Abram took care of business from the backrow to give Emmanuel a 30-29 edge. A Nighthawk attacking error ended the contest with the Saints taking a 31-29 set three win and a 3-0 match victory.
As a team, Emmanuel attackers hit .463. Abram hit .571, finding the floor 20 times in 28 swings. Rabaino hit .474 with 11 kills, while McCaffrey hit .429 with 8 kills to go along with his 6 blocks and 4 aces. Caron chipped in with 5 kills and 2 blocks. Jake DeLuise (Wakefield, R.I.) picked up a team-high 11 digs and Nick Updike (Manhattan Beach, Calif.) dished out 41 helpers in the win.
The Saints are seeded 2nd in this Saturday's Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) Tournament. Emmanuel will travel to Nashua, New Hampshire to take on the 3rd seeded Lasers of Lasell College in a 1pm start. The winner of this semifinal contest will play the winner of the \#1 Rivier/\#4 Johnson & Wales match for the GNAC Championship at 4pm.