Saints Fall Short in Close Battle With Fisher, Fall 3-1 to Falcons

THE BASICS 

Score: 
Fisher 3 – Emmanuel 1 (23-25, 25-20, 25-23, 25-21)

Records: 
Emmanuel College Saints (1-3)
Fisher College Falcons (6-2)

Location: Boston, Mass. – Jean Yawkey Center/Yosinoff Court

Date: Tuesday, September 13, 2022

THE LEAD – After falling behind and dropping the first set, the Fisher Falcons came back to win three straight, earning a 3-1 victory over the Emmanuel Saints on Tuesday evening in non-conference play.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• In the opening set, despite a 9-2 start for the Falcons, Emmanuel was first to strike, taking a 1-0 sets lead. The Saints overcame that early deficit to take a 16-15 edge, where six consecutive EC points would help the Saints pull away. Fisher nearly completed a first-set comeback, pulling to within a point, but a kill for first-year Wiktoria Galazyn (Plainville, Conn.) gave the Saints a 25-23 set win.
• In the second, the Falcons again jumped out to an early lead, using that advantage to hold the Saints off as the set rolled on. Fisher led by as many as seven, late in the set, but a 5-1 spurt had EC within three at 23-20. A Saints error and a Falcons kill by first-year Caroline Saucier (Sarasota, Fla.) would finish the set in favor of the Falcons, 25-20, evening the match at 1-1 apiece.
• In the third, it was Emmanuel out to the lead in the early parts of the set, using a 6-1 run in the middle of the set to help take a 16-11 lead. But in the critical third set for momentum, Fisher overtook the lead with a 12-5 surge. EC recovered to tie the third at 23-23, but another Saints error and a kill for Falcons senior Macy Barnes (Duarte, Calif.), handed the third set to Fisher, 25-23.
• In the final set, Emmanuel looked strong in the early going, as a 7-1 start had the teams looking at a five-set thriller. After that start by the Saints, Fisher scored 11 of the next 15 points to grab a 12-11 lead. From that point, the Falcons wouldn't surrender the lead again. Fisher stretched their lead to five points and despite the Saints cutting the deficit to one point on multiple occasions, the final three points went to the Falcons, including back-to-back aces to close the match by sophomore Edsyl Irizarry (Guaynabo, P.R.), in FCs 25-21 set victory.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

• Barnes finished the match with a game-high 18 kills and 24 digs.
• Sophomore Paola Velazquez (Caguas, P.R.) came in with a double-double of 34 assists and 12 digs.
• Senior Aya Al-Juraishi (Walnut, Calif.) added a match-best six service aces.
• For the Saints, senior Kerry Shea (Tewksbury, Mass.) finished with a team-high 13 kills to go along with 10 digs.
• Galazyn came through with a career-high 11 kills on the night, hitting .200 from the floor in the loss.
• Sophomore Jaiden Greaves (Wells, Maine) had a productive evening, finishing with six kills on 12 attempts for a .500 kill percentage.

UP NEXT

• The Saints are back on the road on Thursday night, traveling to Colleges of the Fenway foe Wentworth for a 7:00 p.m. match.
• The Falcons return to action tomorrow night, heading to Suffolk to face the Rams at 7:00 p.m.