THE BASICS
Score: Emmanuel 3, Eastern Nazarene 2
Records: Emmanuel (1-0); Eastern Nazarene (2-2)
Location: Boston, Mass. – Andy Yosinoff Court
Date: Tuesday, January 21, 2020

THE LEAD: The Emmanuel men's volleyball (1-0) needed to use all five sets to fend off a gritty Eastern Nazarene (2-2) team to pick up its first win of the season Tuesday evening. Senior setter Seamus McDonagh (Long Beach, N.Y.) paced the offense with 42 assists, while dominated the net defensively with five block assists.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• The Saints began the game strong, jumping out to the two-game advantage, taking the first and second sets by scores of 25-22 and 25-23, respectively.
• Through the first two sets, sophomore outside hitter Gary Randall (Essex Junction, Vt.) led the way for the Saints tallying nine kills on 24 attempts for a solid .292 attack percentage.
• With their backs again the wall, down 0-2, the Lions battled back edging out the Saints in game three (25-20) and four (25-19) to tie the match at two and force a deciding game five.
• In the fifth set, the Saints took advantage by a few Lions mistakes as well as big block assist by McDonagh and senior middle hitter Justyn Schueler (Trumbull, Conn.) to take a 4-1 lead and force Eastern Nazarene to call a timeout.
• Building an 8-4 lead, Emmanuel looked poised to take game five with ease, but Eastern Nazarene stormed back, pulling to within one, trailing 10-9.
• However, the Saints rattled off three straight points, sparked by a kill from Schueler to to take a 13-9 lead and never looked back.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

• Junior ouside hitter Mike Kokoros (Braintree, Mass.) registered a double-double, tallying 13 kills and 12 digs, while Randall led the Saints with kills with 15.
• Schueler rounded to the Saints in double digits kills with 10, while also notching five block assists

UP NEXT
Emmanuel continues its three-game home-stand to begin the season, hosting Elms College on Thursday, Jan. 23 at 7 p.m.