WOMEN’S VOLLEYBALL DOWNS JWU, 3-1, TO EARN GNAC TITLE BERTH

BOSTON, Mass. – The Emmanuel College women's volleyball team recorded a 3-1 (27-25, 28-26, 20-25, 25-17) victory over Johnson & Wales University Thursday evening in Great Northeast Athletic Conference Semifinals action to earn a trip to the GNAC Finals on Saturday afternoon. The Saints, who improve to 23-12, will head to Nashua, N.H. to face the #1 seeded Rivier University Raiders at 1:00 PM while the loss ends the Wildcats season with an overall mark of 15-20.

All four sets were evenly matched including the first two frames in which the two squads battled to extra points, with the Saints prevailing both times. In the opening frame, Johnson & Wales jumped out to a 6-3 lead following an ace from senior setter Kasey Higgins (Wallingford, Conn.) but Emmanuel responded with three straight points to even the score at 6-all. The next three-point lead in the frame would be the Saints 15-12 advantage after a JWU attacking error but the squads would continue to battle all the way to a 21-21 score following a kill from Johnson & Wales outside hitter Ashley Rey (Miami, Fla.). The Wildcats had the first chance to end the frame, leading 24-23 but the Saints called a timeout and regrouped with two straight points to take the 25-24 lead. JWU spent their final timeout of the frame and answered with a kill from sophomore outside hitter Kellen Tensen (New Canaan, Conn.) to even the score at 25-all. Unfortunately for the visitors they gave the ball right back with a service error to put Emmanuel in the driver's seat before another hitting error ended the frame in favor of EC, 27-25.

The second frame was much like the first with neither team leading more than three points at any time. The Wildcats opened up that three-point lead following an Emmanuel ball handling error to go ahead 20-17 but the Saints battled and a kill by freshman middle hitter Kaitlyn Atkinson (Brookline, N.H.) evened the score at 23-23. A kill by junior middle hitter Carey Kirk (Purcellville, Va.) gave JWU another set-point with a 24-23 advantage but EC was fortunate to get the right roll on the tape on a Danielle Rose (Wilkes-Barre, Pa.) swing that eluded the Wildcats front line to even the score at 24-24. JWU junior middle hitter Lauren Cordts (Amherst, N.H.) made it 25-24 with a kill to give Johnson & Wales another set-point opportunity but a kill from freshman outside hitter Cassie Chruscielski (Duluth, Minn.) deadlocked the score back at 25-all. The squads would trade points to make it 26-all before Chruscielski slammed home another kill to give Emmanuel a set-point of its own at 27-26. For the second consecutive frame, an attacking error for the Wildcats would end the action in favor of Emmanuel (28-26) to give the hosts a 2-0 lead in the match.

Emmanuel appeared to be in line for a sweep, jumping ahead 8-4 in the early goings of set three but Johnson & Wales had other plans, going on a 5-1 run capped by a kill from junior outside hitter Alyssa Drapeau (Biddeford, Maine) to tie the score at 9-9. The squads would trade points all the way until 15-15 before JWU took control of the action. Back-to-back kills from senior outside hitter Courtney Wright (Windham, N.H.) sparked the Wildcats offense to a 17-15 lead, forcing EC to spend a timeout. The hosts were never able to get the equalizer as the JWU forced another set with a 25-20 win.

In the final frame, both teams looked poised to take control of the action early but neither was able to make any serious damage due to sloppy play. With the scored knotted at 8-8, the Wildcats served a ball into the net to give Emmanuel the lead for good in the set. The Saints would push ahead by as many as six points (18-12) but following a Wildcats timeout, the visitors rolled off three points in a row to cut the hosts lead to 18-15. Back-to-back kills from junior Sarah Colby (West Barnstable, Mass.) and Chruscielski took some of the pressure off to give EC the 20-15 cushion as Emmanuel was able to hang on for the 25-17 win to secure a 3-1 victory in the match.

Chruscielski led the way with a match-high 16 kills to go along with 14 digs for a double-double effort. Colby chipped in with nine kills and 15 digs while sophomore setter Shannon Dudley (Morro Bay, Calif.) ran the offensive show with a match-high 36 assists while also collecting 12 digs. Junior libero Cara Callahan (Medway, Mass.) paced the EC defensive unit with a team-best 25 digs.

Drapeau ended the match with a team-high 10 kills from JWU to go along with 13 digs. Senior libero Giselle Cram (Vega Alta, Puerto Rico) was sensational on the defensive front with a match-high 26 digs. Higgins chipped in a team-best 20 assists along with a match-high three aces.

Emmanuel returns to the GNAC finals for the first time since the 2006 season when they defeated Rivier, 3-1, to secure the program's third-consecutive GNAC Championship. During the two squad's meeting earlier this season, Rivier notched a 3-0 victory to earn the #1 seed in the tourney.  Since the 2006 meeting in the Finals, Rivier has bested Emmanuel in all three of their other playoff meetings by downing the Saints 3-0 in the 2007 Quarterfinals, 3-1 in the 2008 Semifinals and 3-0 in the 2011 Semifinals.

To watch the championship match via livestream, click the following link around the 1:00 PM start time of the match: http://rivier.ezstream.com/play/index.cfm