BOSTON, Mass. – A career-high 22 kills for Alex Frapech wasn't enough to hold the line Thursday night as the Emerson Men's Volleyball Team fell in a five set heartbreaker to Newbury. The Lions fell 20-25, 22-25, 25-23, 25-23 and 15-13 to move to 8-10 on the year as Newbury improves to 5-10.

The first set was a head-to-head as the Nighthawks stayed on the Lions heels the whole time, even pushing two tie scores in the set. EC looked comfortable though with Alex Frapech flooring nine kills in the set to lead the floor with a .400 average as Emerson took off with a 25-20 win to open the match.

Set two saw the Nighthawks fire up a bit more as they tied up the score 12 times and force two lead changes to make it a battle royale. EC's Connor Burton was on point in the set with six kills to his name for a nasty .750 average. Brendan McGonigle matched the average going 3-for-4 while Ben Hillman hit a perfect 1.000 to edge out the Nighthawks 25-22.

Set three saw Newbury jump out an early lead that force the Lions to scrap back in the set finally flipping the switch at 15-14 fueled with back-to-back Connor Burton aces and a solo block by Alex Frapech to get back in it. The Nighthawks were ready to play though as they hit .323 to fire back with a 25-23 win.

Set four saw Newbury fire up again though, this time with Jake Powell dropping a .417 average in the set for six kills. Frapech bested him with seven kills of his own, but the Lions got caught up in Nighthawks blocking as Newbury posted 3.5 blocks in the set. Five aces also helped buoy the Nighthawks as the Lions fell out of sync, falling 25-23 to tie it.

In the deciding set, it looked grim for Emerson early on with Newbury again taking an 8-5 lead on the Lions before EC went on a 6-1 run to take a 11-9 lead. Recouping after a timeout, the Nighthawks surged back with Jake Powell swinging heavy with three kills. Newbury closed it out on the Lions with two more blocks and an ace with a 15-13 final.

The Lions will hit the road this weekend as they set to travel to Nashua, N.H. to take on GNAC foes, Rivier and Albertus Magnus. EC's first game is set for 1 p.m. against Albertus with a match at 3 against Rivier following.