MEN'S VOLLEYBALL ADVANCES TO GNAC CHAMPIONSHIP WITH 3-0 WIN OVER JOHNSON & WALES
April 12, 2012
BOSTON, Mass. -Freshmen outside hitters Zach Whitermore (Whitehall, Pa.) and Ashanti Jackson (Sacramento, Calif.) combined for 31 kills to lead the Emmanuel College men's volleyball team past Johnson & Wales, 3-0 (25-23, 25-16, 25-21), Thursday evening in the Great Northeast Athletic Conference tournament Semifinals at the Jean Yawkey Center in Boston, Mass. The Saints, who received seven votes in the most recent American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) national poll, improve to 17-11 on the year and advance to the GNAC Championship for the fourth time in the tournament's five-year history. The Wildcats fall to 17-17 on the year and will now wait to hear from the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) tournament committee for a bid to the 2012 ECAC North Championships.
The opening set featured 18 ties before the Saints were able to squeak by with the 25-23 win. With the score deadlocked at 12-12, EC would be the first squad to open up more than a two-point lead when senior middle hitter Alexander Petty (Wayland, Mass.) rattled off back-to-back kills to pull EC ahead, 15-12. JWU would capitalize on three Emmanuel hitting errors and a kill by sophomore outside hitter Shawn Kennedy (West Barnstable, Mass.) to tie up the frame at 16-all as the set would then see ties at 17, 18, 19, 20, 21 and 23. An ace by sophomore outside hitter Dan Tiner (Salem, N.H.) evened the score at 23-23 for the Wildcats before Emmanuel would take the set with back-to-back points on a kill by Jackson and a JWU hitting error.
With the score deadlocked at 6-6 in the second set, Emmanuel went on a 7-2 run highlighted by kills from Whitermore and senior middle hitter Tom McCaffrey (Massapequa, N.Y.) to give the Saints a comfortable 13-8 cushion. Following an EC service error, the hosts would then rattle off a 7-1 run capped by a kill from junior setter Nick Updike to make it 19-10 before the Wildcats called a timeout to stop the run. Johnson & Wales was able to pull the set a little closer behind the service game of sophomore right side hitter Chris Espinola (Derry, N.H.) who rolled off four consecutive points including two aces before Emmanuel would take the set on a kill by freshman Austin Cockerill (Darien, Conn.) in a 25-16 win.
In the final frame, Johnson & Wales would take its first lead of the set following a kill by sophomore middle Dan Struebing (Coventry, R.I.) to give the visitors a 14-13 edge. An Emmanuel attacking error would extend the Wildcats lead to 16-14 before EC would close out the set strong for the 3-0 sweep. A Whitermore kill evened the match at 16-16 and then back-to-back JWU attacking errors gave the Saints the lead for good with the score now at 19-17. Whitermore would close the final set out strong, recording the Saints final three points on a trifecta of kills for the 25-21 victory.
Whitermore finished the evening with a career-high 17 kills, hitting .464 from the floor while Jackson chipped in with 12 kills and a .429 hitting percentage. McCaffrey added eight kills while Updike ran the offensive show with 41 assists in the win.
For the Wildcats, Tiner, Struebing and freshman middle hitter Don Dias (Scituate, R.I.) finished the night with six kills apiece while freshman setter J.J. Bessette (Coventry, R.I.) dished out 19 helpers.
The Saints will return to the court in search of the program's first-ever GNAC Championship this Saturday when they head to Nashua, N.H. to take on the four-time defending GNAC Champions, Rivier College at 1:00 PM. The Raiders are currently ranked #12 in the latest AVCA poll and enter the finals on an eight-match win-streak with an overall record of 25-8. In their two meetings this season, Rivier downed the Saints 3-1 (25-10, 20-25, 25-21, 25-22) in Nashua on February 17 and then went on to sweep EC, 3-0 (25-17, 25-23, 30-28) on February 28 in Boston. The one set the Saints were able to take off the Raiders in the Feb. 17 matchup was just one of two sets that Rivier dropped to GNAC opponents this season, with the other coming vs. Johnson & Wales in a 3-1 win on April 3.