March 2, 2010

Box Score

BOSTON, Mass. - The Emmanuel Men's Volleyball Team defeated Rivier College, 3-1, in a Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) battle on Tuesday night. In the eight-year history between these two programs, this was Emmanuel's first-ever win over Rivier. The Raiders, who were ranked 6th in this week's AVCA national poll, had won 17-straight matches over the Saints, before dropping the 3-1 decision in the Jean Yawkey Center on Tuesday night. The Saints rebounded from a three-set beating by the Raiders in Nashua, N.H. back on February 5th. Emmanuel (16-7) and Rivier (19-5) are now tied for 1st place in the conference standings with one GNAC loss apiece.

The Saints jumped out to an early 2-0 lead on a kill by Michael Townsend (Beaverdam, Va.) and an ace by Tyson Rietz (Granite Bay, Calif.). The Saints pushed it to a 4-1 lead after a kill by Thomas McCaffrey (Massapequa, N.Y.). A Keoni Rabaino (Tucson, Ariz.) kill stretched it to 7-4, before Matt Ferreira (North Providence, R.I.) put one away for Rivier. Another Ferreira kill knotted the set at 9-all. An ace by Townsend and a solo block by Rabaino gave the Saints a 4-12 lead. Ferreira and Alex Xenidis (Shelton, Conn.) combined for a block to give the Raiders a 16-15 edge, before Rietz found the floor to forge a tie at 16-16.

After a Raider hitting error, the Saints took a 19-17 lead and Rivier called for a time-out. Out of the time-out, Curtis Abram (San Luis Obispo, Calif.) served off an ace. A Riv hitting error and a huge kill by Rietz pushed the spread to 22-17, Saints. Another kill followed by a block by Rietz gave the Saints a 24-19 advantage. A put-back by Abram gave Emmanuel a five-point lead at 27-22. A Townsend ace and a Rivier hitting error brought the spread to 29-22. A Raider receiving error gave the Saints set-point with a 30-22 win.

Rivier created a 2-0 lead in the second set and pushed it to 3-1 on a kill by Jared Andreozzi (Barrington, R.I.). Consecutive kills by Abram forced a tie at 4-all. A kill down the middle by Andreozzi, the 1,000th of his collegiate career, put the Raiders up 12-9. A Saints hitting error pushed the spread to 15-11 and forced an Emmanuel time-out.

The Raider rallied back and an ace from Andreozzi put Rivier's 29th point on the board. A Townsend kill brought EC up to 28 points, before Taylor Lindner (Chesire, Conn.) put down set-point for Riv at 30-28.

The Saints pulled out to a 7-5 lead early on in the third set, before back-to-back Rivier kills by Xenidis and Ferreira. An Emmanuel kill by McCaffrey brought the Saints into double-figures with a 10-7 edge. A kill by Rabaino stretched the Saints' lead to 13-9. The two teams traded points to 16-12 with Emmanuel maintaining its 4-point advantage. After a Rivier ball handling error, the Saints led 17-12 and forced a Raider time-out.

EC led by as many as seven (23-16) after a McCaffrey kill. The Saints went up nine points (27-18) on a big hit by Rabaino. Rietz brought the spread to 28-20 and McCaffrey found the floor to end set three at 30-24, as Emmanuel took a 2-1 match lead.

The fourth set featured several lead changes in the early going, before a kill by Rietz put Emmanuel up, 13-11. A McCaffrey tip gave the Saints a 17-14 lead. A backrow kill by Rabaino extended EC's lead to five points (20-15) and forced a Raider time-out. Rivier cut the deficit to 24-21 on an Andreozzi kill, but the Raiders would come no closer. A Raider ball handling error, followed by a hitting error, brought the score to 26-21. Two more unforced errors by Riv put the spread at 28-22. Cam Todd and Abram combined for a block for Emmanuel's 29th point and Abram ended the match with a kill at 30-23.

Abram, who is this week's GNAC Men's Volleyball Player of the Week, led the Saints with 17 kills, while hitting .375. Rietz totaled 14 kills in 24 swings, to go along with his 5 digs and 2 aces. Rabaino hit .692 for the match with 10 kills in 13 attempts. Townsend tallied 10 kills and a team-high 4 aces, while Jake DeLuise (Wakefield, R.I.) picked up 7 digs for the hosts. Taylor Lowe (Malibu, Calif.) and Nick Updike combined to dish out 54 assists in the win.

Emmanuel will return to action on Thursday night, when the Saints host the 10th ranked Raiders of Milwaukee School of Engineering (MSOE) in a 7pm start.