SAINTS REBOUND FOR 3-0 SWEEP OF ANNA MARIA

PAXTON, Mass. – Emmanuel College put together a three-set sweep of Anna Maria College in Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) men's volleyball action played on Thursday night.  The Saints rebounded from last night's loss to Rivier and cruised to 25-9, 25-11 and 25-15 set wins in the 3-0 victory.  Emmanuel now stands at .500 with a record of 4-4 overall and 2-2 in GNAC play.  Anna Maria, in its first year as a varsity program, is winless so far at 0-2 and 0-1 in the league.

Juniors Ryan Kessler (Santa Clarita, Calif.) and Austin Cockerill (Darien, Conn.) led the Saints' offense with 7 kills apiece. Kessler hit at an incredible clip of .750 (7-1-8) to go along with his 3 aces.  Sophomore Michael Felix (Mission Hills, Calif.) slammed down 6 kills and rattled off 3 aces.  Classmate Drew Jordan (Braintree, Mass.) chipped in with 4 kills, 3 aces and 3 digs, while junior setter Sean Baxley (Saint James, N.Y.) dished out 18 assists in the win.

As a team, Emmanuel hit .407 with 30 kills in 54 attempts, including notching 14 kills in the second set of the match.  The Saints also totaled 17 service aces on the night.

The AMCATS had three different players (Peter Griffenkranz, Jonathan Gallardo and Michael Goncalves) notch three kills apiece to lead the way.  Michael Gaudelli dished out 7 helpers and Dylan Copeland led the Anna Maria backrow with his team-high 4 digs.

The Saints will travel to New York for the highly competitive Baruch College Invitational tomorrow and Saturday.  EC will take on host, No. 7 Baruch, on Friday night at 8:00 PM.  The Saints are then slated to play No. 12 Stevens Institute of Technology and No. 10 Elmira College on Saturday.