March 8, 2009
Box Score
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – Using tie-breaking procedures to determine the champion of the Fifth Annual MIT Men's Volleyball Invitational, Emmanuel College edged out the host Engineers for the crown on Sunday afternoon. Both squads posted unblemished marks throughout the weekend, but using total point differential to resolve the deadlock, the Saints notched 16 more points to collect the program's second title in four invitational appearances. Emmanuel's last MIT Invitational Championship came in 2006. Emmanuel's Michael Townsend (Beaverdam, Va.) was voted the tournament's Most Valuable Player and teammate Matt Salvi (Trumbull, Conn.) was selected to the All-Tournament Team for the Saints.
The Saints won four matches over the weekend, taking all of their opponents in straight sets. Emmanuel defeated the College of Mount Saint Vincent in the Saints' opening match on Saturday (30-21, 30-21, 30-19). Emmanuel then topped Hilbert College (30-19, 30-15, 30-20) in Saturday's nightcap. The Saints carried their momentum into Sunday, easing past the University of New Haven (30-14, 30-12, 30-23) and Bard College (30-22, 30-14, 30-23), to finish the tournament at 4-0.
The Saints played extremely well throughout the weekend. Offensively, Emmanuel hit .434 as a team. On defense, the team recorded 70 total blocks. Townsend led the Saints' attack with his 40 kills in 62 attempts. The junior captain hit .516 for the weekend, while also tallying 31 digs and 13 aces. Sophomore outside hitter Curtis Abram (San Luis Obispo, Calif.) notched 42 kills in 66 attempts, hitting .515, to go along with his 19 digs and 5 blocks. Salvi gave a tremendous all-around effort, hitting .479 with 30 kills and an incredible 18 blocks on defense.
Taylor Lowe (Malibu, Calif.) was the Saints' playmaker all weekend. The junior setter dished out 130 assists over the four matches. Sophomore middle Cameron Todd (Los Angeles, Calif.) came away with 20 kills and 14 blocks, while classmate Keoni Rabaino (Tucson, Ariz.) chipped in with 18 kills and 13 blocks.
Emmanuel's four weekend wins helped the Saints improve to 14-9 on the season. Emmanuel is currently tied with Lasell College for second place in the Great Northeast Athletic Conference with a 7-3 GNAC mark. The Saints will take the next week off for spring break and will return to action on March 17th, when Emmanuel hosts the Nighthawks of Newbury College in an 8pm start.
MIT All-Tournament Team
Nick Chan, Bard College
Chris Dotoratos, College of Mount Saint Vincent
Peter Kazlas, University of New Haven
Brendan McGourn, Lasell College
Tim Lee, MIT
Michael Demyttenaere, MIT
Matt Salvi, Emmanuel College
Tournament MVP: Michael Townsend, Emmanuel College
Final Invitational Standings
1. Emmanuel College (4-0)*
2. MIT (4-0)*
3. Lasell College (3-1)
4. University of New Haven (2-2)
5. College of Mount Saint Vincent (1-3) ^
6. Bard College (1-3) ^
7. Mount Ida College (1-3)
8. Hilbert College (0-4)
* Emmanuel and MIT both had 12-0 game records, tie broken using point differential (+137/+121)
^ Mount Saint Vincent and Bard both had 4-9 game records tie broken using point differential (-5/-37)
Sunday, March 8
MIT def. Lasell College, 3-0 (30-22, 30-27, 30-19)
College of Mount Saint Vincent def. Mount Ida College, 3-0 (30-25, 30-22, 30-21)
University of New Haven def. Hilbert College, 3-0 (30-15, 30-26, 30-18)
Emmanuel College def. Bard College, 3-0 (30-22, 30-14, 30-23)
MIT def. Hilbert College, 3-0 (30-9, 30-17, 30-21)
Emmanuel College def. University of New Haven, 3-0 (30-14, 30-12, 30-23)
Bard College def. Mount Ida College, 3-0 (30-20, 30-16, 30-22)
Lasell College def. College of Mount Saint Vincent, 3-1 (31-33, 30-18, 30-26, 30-15)
Saturday, March 7
MIT def. Bard College, 3-0 (30-16, 30-18, 30-27)
Emmanuel College def. College of Mount Saint Vincent, 3-0 (30-21, 30-21, 30-19)
Lasell College def. University of New Haven, 3-2 (30-25, 27-30, 31-29, 26-30, 21-19)
Mount Ida College def. Hilbert College, 3-2 (19-30, 26-30, 30-28, 30-26, 15-6)
MIT def. College of Mount Saint Vincent, 3-0 (30-25, 30-21, 30-17)
Emmanuel College def. Hilbert College, 3-0 (30-19, 30-15, 30-20)
University of New Haven def. Mount Ida College, 3-0 (30-16, 30-20, 30-27)
Lasell College def. Bard College, 3-1 (27-30, 31-29, 31-25, 30-25)
