Box Score THE BASICS
Score: Johnson & Wales 3, Emerson 0 (25-20, 25-22, 25-20)
Records: Emerson Lions (12-11, 5-7 GNAC); Johnson & Wales Wildcats (18-13, 7-5 GNAC)
Location: Boston, Mass. (Brown & Plofker Gym)
Date: April 6, 2017
The Lead: Sophomore Mark Piorkowski (Montclair, N.J.) hammered an overall match-high 13 kills for the Lions in the Emerson men's volleyball team's 3-0 setback to visiting GNAC foe, Johnson & Wales, on Thursday night.
HOW IT HAPPENED
SET ONE
- Emerson held a 6-3 lead over Johnson & Wales until the Wildcats came from behind to square the set two times before breaking the 9-all tie.
- After a kill by Kanila Chang, Johnson & Wales tacked on the next seven of nine points to extend their lead to 17-11.
- The Lions were able to close within three of the Wildcats at 22-19 on a kill from Piorkowski, but the Wildcats pushed the lead back to five at 24-19 on an attack error.
- A service error put Emerson back within four at 24-20 until Brendan Baker registered a kill to lift Johnson & Wales to the 25-20 win.
SET TWO
- To begin the second frame, Johnson & Wales grabbed the 8-3 lead before Emerson slowly chipped away at the Wildcats lead.
- Johnson & Wales led until midway through the set for a trio of points by Emerson pulled the Lions ahead by a pair at 19-17.
- Emerson relinquished their lead to have Johnson & Wales notch five consecutive points to put the score at 22-19 in the Wildcats favor.
- A kill from Piorkowski and ace by junior Nick Rusk (Fort Lauderdale, Fl.) cut the margin to one at 23-22, but the Wildcats notched the last pair of points to take the 25-22 win.
SET THREE
- The score differential between Emerson and Johnson & Wales never went above one until the midway point of the third frame.
- With the score in an 11-all lock, Johnson & Wales tallied the next five of six scores to distance themselves from Emerson by four at 16-12 on a kill from Baker.
- Emerson continued to trail within five until the Lions pieced together four straight points to close within one at 18-17 on an attack error.
- The Lions cut the margin to one again at 21-20 on another attack error before the Wildcats closed out the frame with the final four points to earn the 25-20 triumph.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
- Piorkowski powered out 13 kills for Emerson, Rusk recorded 27 assists, served a trio of aces and led the defense with three blocks and sophomore Jacob DiTore (Salem, N.H.) had nine digs.
- Baker put up double figures with 12 kills and 13 digs, while Jason Rhee recorded a match-high 30 assists to match one ace and Zach Turner had four blocks.
UP NEXT
- On Saturday, April 8, Emerson closes out the regular season with a GNAC tri-match against Rivier and Albertus Magnus that will be played at 10:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m.
- Johnson & Wales will also conclude the 2017 season in home tri-match action to entertain Lasell and Emmanuel on Saturday at 10:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m. as well.
STAY LIVE WITH THE LIONS
