MEN'S VOLLEYBALL MAKES QUICK WORK OF EMERSON IN 3-0 ROUT
March 27, 2012
BOSTON, Mass. - Freshman outside hitter Ashanti Jackson (Sacramento, Calif.) hammered down a game-high 16 kills to lead the Emmanuel College men's volleyball team past Emerson College, 3-0 (25-22, 25-14, 25-13) Tuesday evening at the Jean Yawkey Center Gymnasium on the Emmanuel College campus. The Saints, who received 10 votes in the most recent American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) national poll, improve to 11-9 overall with the win and 9-2 in the Great Northeast Athletic Conference while the loss drops the Lions to 7-11 and 2-7 in the GNAC.
The Lions gave the hosts a run for their money in the opening set, hanging tough the entire way. The visitors held a 21-19 lead before Emmanuel rattled off three consecutive points, capped by a kill from junior setter Nick Updike to give the Saints a 22-21 cushion. Emmanuel was able to push the final three points home as Jackson ended the opening set with a drop shot kill to lift the Saints to the 25-22 come-from-behind win to take a 1-0 lead in the match.
Emmanuel opened the second set strong, reeling off five consecutive points behind the strong service game of freshman outside hitter Zach Whitermore (Whitehall, Pa.) to take the early 5-0 lead in the set, forcing the Lions to take a timeout. The early lead was enough to propel the Saints to a more controlled serve/receive game as they were able to hit .346 as a team in the set en route to a 25-14 victory.
The Saints continued to cruise in the third set, building up an 8-1 lead following a kill from senior middle hitter Tom McCaffrey (Massapequa, N.Y.). The deficit was too much for the Lions to overcome as the visitors struggled hitting a negative -.062 in the frame as Emmanuel swept the match with a convincing 25-13 win in the third frame.
Besides Jackson's 16 kills, Whitermore was solid on the night contributing nine kills and a .571 attacking percentage while Updike ran the Saints offensive show with a match-high 32 assists.
For the Lions, junior outside hitter Eric Doherty (Millis, Mass.) and junior right side Nadav Swarttz (Newton, Mass.) each ended with a team-high four kills, respectively while senior setter Stephen Selnick (Cheshire, Conn.) dished out 12 assists.
Emmanuel will return to action on Thursday evening when they head Newton, Mass. to face Mount Ida College in another GNAC tilt scheduled for 7:00 PM while the Lions head down the road the same night to face off against Wentworth in GNAC action also slated for a 7:00 PM start.