Feb. 9, 2012

Box Score

BOSTON, Mass. - The Emmanuel College men's volleyball team rallied from a two-set deficit to come-from-behind and defeat Johnson & Wales University, 3-2 (21-25, 24-26, 25-20, 25-7, 15-9), Thursday evening at the Jean Yawkey Center in Boston, Mass. With the victory the Saints, who are ranked \#14 in the nation in the most recent AVCA poll, improve to 3-2 overall and 3-0 in Great Northeast Athletic Conference action while the loss drops the Wildcats to 1-4 and 0-3 in the GNAC.

Johnson & Wales came out strong in the opening set behind an efficient hitting performance by sophomore middle blocker Dan Struebing (Coventry, R.I.) who tallied five kills on six swings to lead the Wildcats to a 25-21 win. As a unit, JWU hit .387 from the floor in the set and appeared to be clicking on all cylinders.

The second set may have been the best of the five-set thriller as the visitors were able to escape with a 26-24 win to take the 2-0 stronghold in the match. Deadlocked at 21-21, back-to-back Wildcat hitting errors appeared to give the Saints some life with the 23-21 cushion but junior outside hitter Josh Baker (North Kingston, R.I.) answered with two consecutive kills to even the score at 23-all. EC junior outside hitter Alex McKeen (Stoughton, Mass.) would give Emmanuel its final lead of the frame with a kill to make it 24-23 in favor of the hosts but Johnson and Wales would close out the set with the final three points on a kill from sophomore outside hitter Shawn Kennedy (West Barnstable, Mass.), an ace from sophomore middle blocker Dan Davison (Howell, N.J.) and the set-winner on an Emmanuel hitting error.

Trailing by two sets, the Saints made sure avoid the sweep with an aggressive attack in the third set that saw them come away with the 25-21 win to make it a 2-1 contest. With the score tied at 9-9, Emmanuel was able to rattle off three straight points to make it 12-9 following three consecutive Wildcat hitting errors. JWU would rally to even the score at 14-all following a kill from sophomore right-side hitter Chris Espinola (Derry, N.H.) but it would be the last tie of the set as the Saints were able to push for the win. A kill by freshman outside hitter Ashanti Jackson (Sacramento, Calif.) gave EC a 17-15 cushion and another kill by the rookie later in the set would make it 23-19, forcing the visitors to take a timeout. Following the timeout, junior setter Nick Updike denied any chance of a late rally, sending back a solo block to make it set point at 24-19. Baker would tally a kill to make it 24-20 before the Wildcats would end the set prematurely on their own service error.

With the momentum swinging in favor of Emmanuel, the hosts took advantage of the high energy level and dominated play in the fourth set en route to a 25-7 thrashing, forcing a fifth and final frame. The Saints jumped out to a 9-1 lead in the set following a solo block by Jackson and wouldn't quit as they'd push the lead all the way to 17-3 following a pair of hitting errors from the visitors. A rotation error by the home squad put the score at 17-5 but the Saints responded with four consecutive points on back-to-back-to-back kills from junior middle hitter Zachary Caron (Hope, R.I.), freshman opposite Austin Cockerill (Darien, Conn.) and Jackson followed by a Jackson ace to give EC a commanding lead at 21-5. Cockerill would close out the set with another kill to end the 25-7 rout and power the Saints into the decisive fifth set.

In the final set, Emmanuel jumped out to the early lead following an ace from freshman defensive specialist Cody Diehl (Derry, N.H.) to make it 3-1 but the Wildcats would respond and even the score at 4-4 following an ace from Espinola. The Saints would then take advantage of a pair of JWU hitting errors to go ahead 6-4 and would never let go of the lead. A block assist from Cockerill and senior middle hitter Tom McCaffrey (Massapequa, N.Y.) made it 8-5, EC, as the squads switched sides of the net but the change of scenery didn't help the Wildcats as the Saints would continue to push for the win. A Cockerill kill made it 12-7 but Espinola answered with a kill of his own to cut the lead to 12-8. A JWU service error made it 13-9, forcing the visitors to spend their final timeout but it was of no use as Diehl answered with his second ace of the set to make it match-point at 14-9. Davison would register a kill for JWU before Jackson completed the comeback with a kill to give EC the 15-9 win in the set for the 3-2 victory on the match.

For EC, Jackson finished with a team-high 19 kills while hitting .581 from the floor. Cockerill chipped in with eight kills in the win while McCaffrey added seven kills to go along with seven block assists. Updike ran the offensive show all night, dishing out 41 assists in the win.

For the Wildcats, Baker wrapped up the night with a game-high 20 kills while Espinola added 10 kills. Freshman setter John Bosch (West Palm Beach, Fla.) notched a game-high 44 assists in the losing effort.

Emmanuel will return to the court on Tuesday, February 14 when they head across town to face Emerson College in another GNAC matchup slated for a 7:00 PM start while Johnson & Wales will be back in action this Saturday, February 11 when they take on Endicott College at 4:00 PM in Cambridge, Mass. on the MIT campus.