Feb. 3, 2010
Box Score
BOSTON, Mass. - The Emmanuel Men's Volleyball Team eased past the visiting Lasers of Lasell College, 3-0, in the Saints' third Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) match of the season. The host Saints topped the Lasers in three quick sets, 30-22, 30-17, 30-21. The win boosted Emmanuel to 6-3 overall and 3-0 in league play, while Lasell dropped to 5-2 on the season and 1-1 in the conference.
Emmanuel took an early 8-7 lead in the opening set on a strong kill by Michael Townsend (Beaverdam, Va.). Curtis Abram (San Luis Obispo, Calif.) accounted for four of the Saints' first eight points with 3 kills and an ace. The two teams exchanged points until a kill by Matt Salvi (Trumbull, Conn.) brought the game to a tie at 10-all. Consecutive kills by Abram and Tyson Rietz (Granite Bay, Calif.), followed by a Townsend ace, forced a Lasell timeout with the score at 15-11.
Out of the time-out, Townsend rattled off another ace before Lasell's Spencer Parker (Newington, Conn.) put one down the left side to bring the score to 16-12. Rietz ripped one down the right side, followed by a solo block by Lasell's Mike Harrington (Billerica, Mass.) and Emmanuel led, 21-16. The Saints held onto the lead throughout. Cam Todd (Los Angeles, Calif.) and Abram assisted on a block for Emmanuel's 29th point and Rietz ended it with a kill down the middle, as the Saints won the first set, 30-22.
Rietz opened set two with another big kill to put EC out in front early. After a solo block by Rietz, Harrington slammed down a kill to cut Lasell's deficit to 6-3. Kills by Todd and Townsend were part of a 7-1 Emmanuel run and Lasell called a time-out with the score at 13-4. Rietz stretched the Saints' lead to double-figures with a monster cross-court kill and Emmanuel led 19-9.
The Saints maintained the double-figure lead for the remainder of the set. Thomas McCaffrey (Massapequa, N.Y.) put one away to bring the score to 25-12. Set two turned into a rout and Emmanuel ended it on kills by Rietz and Townsend for a score of 30-17.
Lasell jumped out to a 1-0 lead on a Parker kill in the third set. EC took over at 3-2 after a kill by Todd. The lead then changed sides four more times before the Saints took a 10-9 edge on back-to-back Townsend kills. An ace by Harrington gave the Lasers a 11-10 advantage. A huge kill down the middle by McCaffrey put Emmanuel out in front, 18-16. A Rietz kill brought it to 22-18 and forced a Laser time-out. Consecutive blocks by Abram pushed the spread to 29-21 before the contest ended on a Laser ball handling error (30-21).
Rietz led the Emmanuel offense with 11 kills, hitting .438 for the match. Townsend added 8 kills, 2 aces and 2 blocks. McCaffrey, Abram and Todd tallied 6 kills apiece, while Sean O'Connor (Hampstead, N.H.) dished out 18 assists in the win. The Saints' defense was anchored by O'Connor and Jake DeLuise (Wakefield, R.I.), who combined for 13 digs in the match. Rietz and Abram led the Emmanuel blockers with 4 each, while Todd accounted for 3 blocks in the effort.
The Saints will head to Nashua, New Hampshire on Friday night for a battle with the pre-season favorite Raiders of Rivier College. The match is slated to begin at 7pm.
