SAINTS SWEEP NEWBURY ON SENIOR NIGHT
April 6, 2010
BOSTON, Mass. - The 13th-ranked Emmanuel Men's Volleyball Team improved to 27-10 on the season with a 3-0 sweep of Newbury College on Tuesday night in the Jean Yawkey Center. Emmanuel's two seniors, Michael Townsend (Beaverdam, Va.) and Taylor Lowe (Malibu, Calif.), were honored prior to the start of the last regular season home match. The win gave the record-setting Saints a 10-1 mark at home this season. The loss dropped Newbury to 23-13 on the year.
The Saints took a 10-9 lead after a kill by Keoni Rabaino (Tucson, Ariz.) to open set one. The score was pushed to 13-9 on an ace by Curtis Abram (San Luis Obispo, Calif.) and a kill by Tyson Rietz (Granite Bay, Calif.). Rabaino and Cam Todd (Los Angeles, Calif.) then combined for a block to put EC up 14-9 and forced a Newbury timeout.
A kill by Abram gave the Saints a 20-15 lead. A Matt Salvi (Trumbull, Conn.) kill and another by Todd brought the spread to 23-17 and forced the Nighthawks to call their second timeout of the set. Abram put two more away after the timeout and then served off consecutive aces to go up 28-19. A Newbury serving error gave Emmanuel set point and the hosts won on a kill by Zachary Caron (Hope, R.I.) to take a 30-22 win in set one.
A kill by Salvi and a solo block by Abram gave EC an early 12-8 lead in the second set. Todd found the floor to put the Saints up 16-10. After Emmanuel kills by Rabaino and Thomas McCaffrey (Massapequa, N.Y.), Newbury's Josh Aberly (Palatine, Ill.) put one away to cut the Saints' lead to 20-15.
Rabaino gave the Saints their 25th point with a cross-court kill. Two Emmanuel hitting errors and a huge block by Newbury's James Beck (Havre de Grace, Md.) brought the score to 26-21. A kill by Seung Hee Kim (Plainview, N.Y.) brought Newbury to within striking distance at 27-23, but the Nighthawks would get no closer and Emmanuel pulled away with the 30-23 set two win.
After an early battle in set three, Newbury's Max Daley (Cranston, R.I.) put one down to forge an 8-8 tie. Rietz slammed another one down to give EC a 15-10 lead. An ensuing 3-1 Emmanuel-run forced a Newbury timeout at 18-11. The two teams traded points to 24-17, before Sean O'Connor (Hampden, Me.) put one past the Newbury blockers. Another Rietz kill pushed EC's lead to 27-20. The Nighthawks then rattled off five unanswered points to cut their deficit to 27-25, but the Saints hung on and an Abram kill, followed by a Newbury hitting error, gave Emmanuel a 30-26 win.
Abram led Emmanuel with 10 kills and 6 aces, while Rietz hit .400 with 8 kills and a team-high 8 digs. Rabaino added 7 kills and a trio of Saints (McCaffrey, Salvi and Todd) pitched in 6 kills apiece in the win. Townsend recorded 7 digs, while Lowe dished out 20 assists for the Saints.
Emmanuel will compete on Friday night (4/9) in the North East Collegiate Volleyball Association (NECVA) Tournament. The Saints will be making their 3rd NECVA Tournament appearance in 4 years. Emmanuel is seeded 12th and will face the 5th-seeded Gulls of Endicott College in the tournament's opening round on Friday at 6pm.