Boston - In the program's first ever matchup against the Scarlet Hawks, Emmanuel fought hard, but a second set blowout took all the air out of the team as they dropped their second straight match, this time in straight sets. Emmanuel (9-11, 2-1) and Illinois Tech (6-12, 4-4) went down to the wire in 2/3 sets but just could not finish enough rallies to steal a set, and the momentum from the visitors.
 
In the first set, the Scarlet Hawks held onto a 17-13 advantage, looking poised to run away with the set. But a timeout from head coach Bori May proved to be critical, as the team rattled off five straight points to take the lead at 18-17, thanks to two kills from first year Brendan McGinley. The rest of the set was back and forth, until two kills from Illinois Tech when the match was 26 all put the nail in the coffin.
 
The second set was nothing short of a disaster for Emmanuel, the Scarlet Hawks jumped out to a quick 7-2 advantage, capped off by a kill from Paul Henderson, and they never looked back. Illinois Tech led by as much as 11 in the second set (21-10), as too many errors from the Saints proved to be vital. Emmanuel recorded a 0.061 attack percentage in the set, as they fell 25-16.
 
In the third and final set, Emmanuel did not lie down as the team kept it within striking distance the entire time. Neither side had a lead of more than two points until a Scarlet Hawks kill from Tyson Haufschild extended their lead at 18-15. The team clawed their way back to a tie at 22-22, forcing a timeout from Illinois tech, but the next two points belonged to the visitors. A kill from Aaron Hanny was the dagger as the Scarlet Hawks completed the 3 set sweep.

Senior Trey Guest led the way for the Saints with 16 kills to go along with six digs. First year Cody Gibendi continues to stack impressive performances as he recorded six kills on the night. First year Tye Barrett continued his impressive rookie campaign with another 21 assists. The Scarlet Hawks were paced by Haufschild and Maximo Dowling who combined for 21 total kills.
 
Up Next:
The Saints will begin their final stretch of Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) games when they travel to Newton next Thursday for a matchup with Lasell. First serve of this matchup will take place at 6 P.M.