THE BASICS 

Score: Emmanuel (Mass.) 3, Emerson 0 (21-25, 21-25, 23-25)

Records: Emerson Lions (1-1, 0-1 GNAC) ; Emmanuel (Mass.) Saints (3-2, 2-0 GNAC)

Location: Boston, Mass. (Yosinoff Court)

Date: January 28, 2022

The Lead: Sophomore Neiko Pittman led the Emerson men's volleyball team with 10 kills, but the Lions slipped in their first setback of the season over at Emmanuel (Mass.), 3-0, in GNAC men's volleyball action on Friday night. 

INSIDE THE NUMBERS 

EMERSON 

Pittman: 10 kills
Bayden Slavik: 15 assists 
Josh Elliot: 12 assists & one ace
Jack Meissner: eight digs & three blocks
Luke Roehm: four blocks

EMMANUEL (MA) 

Jyles Amirault: 13 kills
Roman Fabrizio: 29 assists, two aces & four blocks
Tyler Behsman: 11 digs

HOW IT HAPPENED 

SET ONE 

• The score was in a 3-all lock after a swing from Meissner when Emmanuel set off on a 8-2 run to put Emerson in a six-point deficit at 11-6 when Amirault recorded a kill. 
• Emerson kept pace with Emmanuel and stayed within four on Saints serving errors and a pair of kills with the score at 15-11. Emerson's four-point deficit turned into eight points on a 4-0 Emmanuel spurt and the score now at 19-11. 
• The later bit of the set saw Emerson begin a comeback and tallied the frame's next seven of nine points to turn an eight-point deficit into a 23-20 game behind a Pittman swing. 
• Another Pittman kill gave Emerson life at 24-21, but Amirault registered a swing to hand the Lions the 25-21 setback. 

SET TWO 

• The second frame saw both Emerson and Emmanuel play neck-and-neck as the visiting Lions never trailed more than four. 
• With the score set at 19-16, Emmanuel started to pull away and tacked on four more points to gain their biggest lead as the Lions faced a six-point hole at 22-16 on an attack error. 
• Much like the first set, the visitors were not done on the scoring front. Three kills recorded by Pittman and two more from Meissner and Slavik lifted Emerson to within three at 24-21. 
• It was Emmanuel once again who got match point with a kill from Daniel Keyes. After two sets, Emerson trailed Emmanuel, 0-2. 

SET THREE

• The two teams once again battled through much of the third frame for Emerson never trailed more than four points. 
• In the closing stretch, Emerson pulled within a pair after Roehm registered a swing to bring the Lions to 22-20 and were not done yet. Down three at 23-20 on a service error, the duo of Pittman and Roehm sent down back-to-back kills as Emerson stared down a one-point deficit at 23-22. 
• Emmanuel capitalized on an Emerson serving mishap to give them the 24-22 lead and once again, the Lions answered as they took advantage of a Saints attack error to keep the game going at 24-23.
• The Saints cut the Lions' comeback hopes short with another kill from Keyes as the visitors fell in three.

UP NEXT

• Emerson gets back on the court at home on Thursday, February 3rd with an out-of-league matchup with Eastern Nazarene.