Jan. 28, 2011

Box Score

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. - The 11th-ranked Emmanuel Men's Volleyball Team took \#1 Springfield College into four sets, before dropping a 3-1 non-conference battle on Friday night. Springfield entered tonight's match at 1-4 overall, playing all Division I opponents to start the season, while Emmanuel boasted a 5-1 start to the 2011 season. This was the Pride's home opener and first Division III match of the year and the Saints certainly gave the defending national champions a scare, taking the Pride into four tight sets (18-25, 25-21, 21-25, 22-25).

Set one opened with several long rallies with the liberos from both sides playing key roles in the early going. The pride posted strong defense with three blocks in the opening minutes to take an 8-5 lead out of the gate. Springfield took advantage of sending low fast sets to their outside hitters and posted a six-point lead (13-7) at the midway point of the opening set. The Pride pushed the spread to 20-12, utilizing the seemingly unstoppable attack of three-time All-American Cal Palumbo (Rochester, N.Y.).

The Saints took advantage of strong offense from Keoni Rabaino (Tucson, Ariz.), who posted 3 kills in the first set, rattling off three-straight points to bring the spread to 20-15. The two clubs exchanged service errors to 21-16, but the Saints would pull no closer and Springfield came away with a 25-18 win in the opener. The hosts boasted an incredible .478 hitting percentage in game one.

The Saints rushed out to an early 8-5 lead in set two, but the hosts quickly evened the score at 8-all, backed by strong blocking and Emmanuel's hitting errors. The two teams exchanged points, before a strong kill by senior outside hitter Curtis Abram (San Luis Obispo, Calif.) pushed the spread to 14-13, Saints. Emmanuel went up two (16-14), taking advantage of a Pride hitting error, and Springfield was forced to call for a timeout.

Out of the timeout, sophomore setter Nick Updike served off two more points for the Saints and Emmanuel held an 18-14 edge, as the Pride signaled for a second timeout. An incredible pursuit play by the Saints gave Emmanuel a five-point lead. A strong block, followed by a kill, by Springfield's Greg Falcone (Lindenhurst, N.Y.) brought the Pride to within three at 20-17. Both teams continued to battle, scoring four more points apiece. On Emmanuel's second set-point, Abram put it away with his 10th kill, as the Saints won, 25-21. Consistent passing was the key to set two for the Saints, as Emmanuel accurately returned powerful serves by the Pride.

With the match tied at 1-1, Emmanuel senior Tyson Rietz (Granite Bay, Calif.) rattled off consecutive kills to give the Saints an early 3-1 lead. The Pride then went on an 8-3 run to go up, 9-6, backed by offense from Falcone and John Coen (Chicago, Ill.). Another kill by Falcone pushed Springfield's lead to 15-8 and the Saints called for a timeout.

An Emmanuel kill by Rabaino and a four-hitter by the Pride made the score 16-12, Springfield. Three more Springfield points forced another Emmanuel timeout at 19-13. Out of the break, the Saints took advantage of a Springfield service error, a kill by Thomas McCaffrey (Massapequa, N.Y.) and Abram's 13th kill of the match, to cut their deficit to three points at 19-16 and force a timeout by the Pride. The Pride came out of the timeout on fire with an ace by Palumbo and kills by Falcone and Scott McMahan (Forestville, Calif.) to pull away with a 25-21 set win, as Springfield took a 2-1 lead in the match.

Set four featured a 7-6 Saints' lead in the early going after a kill by Abram off of Updike's 33rd assist of the night. A three-point Emmanuel lead at 10-7 forced a timeout by the Pride. Springfield's Alberto Bravo (Toa Baja, Puerto Rico) put one away out of the T.O. and Abram matched it to bring the spread to 11-8.

A Pride kill and back-to-back Emmanuel hitting errors tied the match at 11-all. A Rabaino kill, an Abram ace and an attack error by the Pride brought the spread to 14-11, in favor of the Saints. A nice short serve by Cam Todd (Los Angeles, Calif.), forcing another Springfield error, set the score at 16-12 and the Pride called their final timeout of the set.

Abram's 17th kill of the match put the Saints on top by four, 19-15, but the hosts would go on a run that Emmanuel could not overcome. Falcone served off a 5-1 run by the Pride, which tied the match at 20-all. Continued serving by Falcone gave the hosts took a 22-20 lead, forcing an EC timeout. Bravo sent the ball back on a huge block and then slammed one down to give the Pride match point at 24-20. The Saints hung tough, but Springfield ended the match at 25-22 on their third-match point.

Abram's 18 kills was a match-high. Rabaino tallied 12 kills and 5 blocks, while McCaffrey added 7 kills and 3 blocks for the Saints. Rietz recorded a team-high 9 digs and 5 kills. Updike dished out a match-high 41 assists to go along with his 6 digs and 3 blocks for Emmanuel.

For Springfield, Palumbo led the way with 11 kills and 5 blocks. Bravo added 9 kills and a match-high 10 digs. Falcone chipped in with 8 kills and Mike Becker dished out 33 assists in the win for the Pride.

Springfield (2-4) will play at Harvard on Tuesday at 7pm. The Saints (5-2) will host the University of New Haven and Vassar College tomorrow (1/29) in a non-conference tri-match beginning at 11:00am in the Jean Yawkey Center. The Saints will open the day versus New Haven at 11 and will then take on Vassar at 3pm.