NEW LONDON, Conn. – On a tri-match Saturday with important postseason implications at stake, the Emmanuel women's volleyball team came away with a pair of straight sets sweeps in Great Northeast Athletic Conference play, in wins over Mitchell (25-13, 25-14, 25-12) and Saint Joseph's of Maine (25-16, 26-24, 25-14).
With the two wins, the Saints move to 19-6 (9-3 GNAC) this season. Saint Joseph's split their afternoon matches, going to 12-15 (8-4 GNAC) on the year while the Mariners dropped to 8-16 (4-9 GNAC) in their losses. The Saints 19 wins are the most for the program since 2014 when the team won 24 matches.
In their opening match against Mitchell, the Saints committed just nine errors the entire match, including an error-less third set in the straight sets sweep.
In the opening set, Emmanuel used two different 6-0 runs for the 25-13 set win. In the second, a 7-0 start to the frame set the stage for a 25-14 win. In the third and final set, the Saints hit a match-best .519 from the floor, using 14 kills on 27 attempts to win the set 25-12.
Junior
Isabella Marquez finished with a match-high 13 kills, hitting a stellar .591 in the match. First-years
Amber Hong and
Letitia Bossou chipped in with eight kills each. Senior
Paula Tanguilig and first-year
Ava Olsen reached double-digit digs with 17 and 11, respectively.
In their second match, the Saints rolled over the momentum from their win against Mitchell in the first set, hitting .281 to win the first, 25-16. The Saints managed to hold in for the second set win, despite being outkilled 16-9 in the frame. SJC nearly stole the set with a 4-0 run, but the Saints defended set point and won the final three points of the set for a 26-24 win. A third set run of 9-1 for the Saints through the middle of the set helped them to another straight sets sweep and 25-14 final set win.
Marquez again led the Saints, finishing the match with 15 kills. Hong and sophomore
Kason Huynh each added five service aces while first-year
Frances Ramos Rodriguez chipped in with four aces.
The Saints sit in fourth place in the GNAC Standings with one week remaining in the regular season. Emmanuel finishes their season hosting on Tuesday, Nov. 5 in a match against Lasell at 7:00 p.m. Followed by a tri-match Saturday on Yosinoff Court on Nov. 9 with Dean and the University of Saint Joseph.
