Feb. 7, 2012

Box Score

BOSTON, Mass. - GNAC Rookie of the Week Ashanti Jackson (Sacramento, Calif.) recorded 15 kills and three blocks to pace the 14th-ranked Emmanuel College men's volleyball team in a 3-0 win over Colleges of the Fenway rival Wentworth Institute of Technolgy. The Great Northeast Athletic Conference match was played in Wentworth's Tansey Gymnasium on Tuesday night.

In a game that saw 10 ties, Wentworth jumped out to a 3-1 lead to start, and, after the Saints came back to eventually knot the score at 5-all, the Leopards scored three of the next four points to take a 9-6 lead. Three Emmanuel points tied the game for the fourth time in the early going and the teams traded points until the hosts took leads of 15-13 and 16-14. Emmanuel battled back to tie the game at 16-all before Wentworth would take a 19-17 lead. However, three-straight Saint points gave the visitors a 20-19 lead, and, after the Leopards tied the game on an Emmanuel error, the Saints scored five of the final seven points to take a 25-22 win in set one.

After a pair of ties opened the second game, Wentworth would lead by as many as four points on four occasions, with the last one coming at 15-11. Emmanuel scored the next two points to cut the deficit in half before the Leopards scored five straight points to take a 20-13 lead. The lead would grow to 24-16 before eight straight Emmanuel points staved off game point and tied the game at 24-all.

The two teams would battle through nine ties to keep the game going and each team had a chance to serve for the set. Trailing 33-32, the Saints scored the final three points to take a 2-0 lead with a 35-33 win.

Much like the first two games, the third began as a back-and-forth battle with the two teams trading points five times before Emmanuel broke a 5-all deadlock by scoring eight of the next 10 points to lead, 13-7. Wentworth pulled within three at 17-14, but that would be as close as the Leopards would come as the Saints prevailed, 25-21.

Senior Tom McCaffrey (Massapequa, N.Y.) added nine kills in 12 swings for the Saints, while freshman Ben Mathews (York, Pa.) and Jackson each recorded five digs. Freshman Zack Whitermore (Whitehall, Pa.) and junior Nick Updike had two aces apiece. Updike led the Saints with 41 helpers in the win.

Sophomore Ross Burdett (Needham, Mass.) paced the Black & Gold with 13 kills and seven digs, while classmate Mike Buonincontra (Shelton, Conn.) added six kills and seven digs. Junior Tyler Moriarty (Wilbraham, Mass.) had four blocks, a pair of aces and 33 assists.

With the win Emmanuel improves to 2-2 overall and 2-0 in GNAC play. Wentworth falls to 3-3 (0-2), with all three losses coming to nationally ranked foes. Both teams host conference matches on Thursday night as the Saints host Johnson & Wales and the Leopards entertain Mount Ida.

- Courtesy of Wentworth Sports Information