Boston - Men's volleyball picked up their first win in Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) play on Saturday night with a straight sets sweep of Emerson (3-8, 0-1). The Saints (6-6, 1-1) weathered a location change but did not flinch once, led by
Trey Guest and his 17 kills, Emmanuel made quick work of the Lions.
With the first set tied at five, Emmanuel grabbed control with a 5-0 spurt, featuring three kills from three different members of the squad (Guest,
Tye Barrett,
Collin Martin). With the Saints still leading 19-12, Emerson made one final push, tallying three straight points. This was followed by an error from the Lions, and then an ace by sophomore
Eric Barcelos put the set away, with the team eventually grabbing the match point by a score of 25-20.
The second set featured the closest set of the match. Emerson jumped out to a 5-2 start, as Emmanuel continued to deal with some serving errors. The Saints kept on fighting though, eventually knotting the match up for the first time at 10 with a loud triple block from Martin, Guest and
Declan Morrison.
Looking poised to grab control, Emmanuel surrendered the next three points, finding themselves back in a 15-12 deficit after yet another service error. Luckily for the Saints, the Lions made a string of errors in this set that Emmanuel capitalized on, finally grabbing their first lead of the set at 19-18. Emerson would grab the lead back at 21-20, but five of the last seven points belonged to the "home" team as Emmanuel skirted by with a 25-23 second set victory.
In the third and final set, Emmanuel wasted no time jumping out to an 8-4 advantage. This drained the life out of Emerson, as they were never able to recover in the match. After leading by as much as 11 in the set, first year
Cody Gibendi slammed the door shut with a kill to end the match with a 25-14 score.
Trey Guest led the way with 17 kills,
Eric Barcelos chipped in with six kills and four service aces. First year
Tye Barrett continued his impressive rookie campaign with 26 assists on the night.
Up Next
Emmanuel will travel to Nichols College for a non-conference match up on Wednesday night with a 7:00 P.M. first serve.
