SAINTS FLY TO STRAIGHT SET WIN IN DIG PINK GAME

BOSTON, Mass. - Emmanuel College junior Cassie Chruscielski (Duluth, Minn.) had nine kills to lead the Saints to a 3-0 (25-12, 25-14, 25-9) victory over the University of Saint Joseph (Conn.) in Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) Women's Volleyball action on Tuesday night.

The Blue Jays arrived late due to issues with traffic and the Saints were ready for them as soon as they walked into the Emmanuel College Gymnasium. EC jumped out to an early 8-2 lead, causing the Blue Jays to use both of their timeouts. The Saints extended the lead to 18-8, and continued to roll to an easy 25-12 victory in the opening set. 

Saint Joseph's was plagued by ball-handling errors, as they had more errors than kills midway through the second set. Emmanuel opened the second set with eight straight points, forcing another Blue Jays timeout. This time, USJ responded out of the break with a small rally to cut the lead to 15-11 on an ace by Sarah Lipinski.

The Saints, however, would bounce back to regain control, as two service aces by junior Sarah Schemerhorn (Los Angeles, Calif.) and two kills by junior Starr Ripley (Chicopee, Mass.) helped push the lead back 21-11, and eventually close the set out at 25-14.

The third set began similar to the first two, as the Saints scored 12 of the first 16 points to lead 12-4 heading into a USJ timeout. The break slowed the Saints down briefly, as EC made three errors and watched the lead dwindle down to 12-7.

But once again, it was Schemerhorn that would put the Saints back in the driver's seat. The junior libero served three straight aces as part of an eight-point run that put the Saints ahead 20-7.

The teams traded the next few points, but the Saints eventually closed out the set 25-9 on a service ace by freshman Carly Church (Higganum, Conn.) to win the match 3-0.

Senior captain Brittany Tutalo (Johnston, R.I.) had five kills and hit .714 in the victory. Church tallied 13 assists to lead the match and senior Shannon Dudley (Morro Bay, California) added 12 helpers.

The Saints have two games remaining in the regular season, one in GNAC play and one non-conference matchup. Salve Regina will visit Emmanuel on Thursday, October 27 at 7 p.m. in which will be the Saints senior night game. Following that match, the Saints will travel to unbeaten Rivier University for the final game of the regular season.