BOSTON, Mass. – Freshman Ashanti Jackson (Sacramento, Calif.) recorded 15 kills and three blocks to help paced the 14th-ranked Emmanuel College men's volleyball team to a 3-0 win over Colleges of the Fenway rival Wentworth in a Great Northeast Athletic Conference match.
In a game that saw 10 ties, Wentworth jumped out to a 3-1 lead to start, and, after the Saints came back to eventually knot the score at 5-all, the Leopards scored three of the next four points to take a 9-6 lead. Three Emmanuel points tied the game for the fourth time in the early going and the teams traded points until the hosts took leads of 15-13 and 16-14. Emmanuel battled back to tie the game at 16-all before Wentworth would take a 19-17 lead. However, three straight Saint points gave the visitors a 20-19 lead, and, after the Leopards tied the game on an Emmanuel error, the Saints scored five of the final seven points to take a 25-22 win.
After a pair of ties opened the second game Wentworth would lead by as many as four points on four occasions, with the last one coming at 15-11. Emmanuel scored the next two points to cut the deficit in half before the Leopards scored five straight points to take a 20-13 lead. The lead would grow to 24-16 before eight straight Emmanuel points staved off game point and tied the game at 24-all.
The two teams would battle through nine ties to keep the game going and each team had a chance to serve for the game. Trailing 33-32, the Saints scored the final three points to take a 2-0 lead with a 35-33 win.
Much like the first two games, the third began as a back-and-forth battle with the two teams trading points five times before Emmanuel broke a 5-all deadlock by scoring eight of the next 10 points to lead, 13-7. Wentworth pulled within three at 17-14, but that would be as close as the Leopards would come as the Saints prevailed, 25-21.
Senior Tom McCaffrey (Massapequa, N.Y.) added nine kills in the win, while freshman Ben Mathews (York, Pa.) had a team-high six digs. Freshman Zack Whitermore (Whitehall, Pa.) and junior Nick Updike (Manhattan Beach, Calif.) had two aces apiece.
Sophomore Ross Burdett (Needham, Mass.) paced the Black & Gold with 13 kills and seven digs, while classmate Mike Buonincontra (Shelton, Conn.) added six kills and seven digs. Junior Tyler Moriarty (Wilbraham, Mass.) had four blocks, a pair of aces and 33 assists.
With the win Emmanuel improves to 2-2 overall and 2-0 in GNAC play. Wentworth falls to 3-3 (0-2), with all three losses coming to nationally ranked foes. Both teams host conference matches on Thursday night as the Saints host Johnson & Wales and the Leopards entertain Mount Ida.
