THE BASICS 

Score: Emerson 3, Emmanuel (Mass.) 2 (20-25, 27-25, 18-25, 25-23, 15-12)

Records: Emerson Lions (5-8, 4-3 GNAC) ; Emmanuel (Mass.) Saints (9-9, 3-3 GNAC)

Location: Boston, Mass. (Yosinoff Gymnasium)

Date: March 2, 2023

The Lead: With the help of a combined 29 kills from juniors Neiko Pittman and Luke Roehm and 19 assists from sophomore Bryson Beck, the Emerson men's volleyball battled to a five-set 3-2 GNAC victory over Emmanuel (Mass.) on Thursday night. 

INSIDE THE NUMBERS 

EMERSON

Pittman: 18 kills, 15 digs

Roehm: 11 kills, two block assists

Beck: 19 assists

Jack Miessner: three aces

Bayden Slavik: nine kills, 17 assists, two block assists

Liam Higgins: two block assists 

EMMANUEL (MASS.)

Josh McDonald: 16 kills

Jyles Amirault: 14 kills, 11 digs

Louis DaSilva: 12 kills, five block assists 

Thor Yingling: 11 kills

Roman Fabrizio: 55 assists

Dominic DeFerrari: three aces

HOW IT HAPPENED 

SET ONE

• The first nine of 11 points went Emmanuel's way to begin the first frame as the Saints snagged the 9-2 lead and held Emerson within a margin of seven. 
• At the midway point of the frame, Emerson continued to trail Emmanuel by seven at 20-13 before they used a late 7-4 run to pull within four at 24-20 after an ace at the line from sophomore Bryson Beck. 
• Emerson's comeback was cut short when Emmanuel tallied match point on a swing from Josh McDonald as the Lions fell, 25-20. 

SET TWO

• Emerson flipped the script in the second set and put Emmanuel in a six-point hole at 9-3 as the Lions capitalized on five Saints' miscues within the run. 
• Up four at 12-7, Emmanuel used a 6-1 spurt to level the game and with a kill from Louis DaSilva, evened the score at 13-all. Seven more ties and eight lead changes were spread through the middle of the set.
• Three constructive kills from the Saints lifted the hosts to a three-point lead at 23-20 and were one point from taking the second after another swing from DaSilva moved the score to 24-21. 
• Emerson, however, pieced together a late run and registered the frame's final six of seven points with another Beck ace sealing the Lions' 27-25 win and evened the game at one set apiece. 

SET THREE

• After Emerson held the 5-4 lead to start the third, Emmanuel tacked on the next five of seven points to jump ahead, 9-7. The Saints' lead was short-lived for the Lions responded with a 4-0 run to reclaim the 11-9 edge. 
• Emerson, who was up two at 13-all, surrendered their slight lead when Emmanuel put together a lengthy 9-0 spark that put the Lions in a seven-point hole at 20-13. 
• Through the closing of the third, Emerson registered five more points to inch within five at 24-18 on a kill from Pittman, but Jyles Amirault recorded the set-winning kill for Emmanuel, 25-18. 

SET FOUR

• Neither Emerson or Emmanuel led by a margin of over three points when they had possession of the lead throughout the fourth. 
• After Emmanuel locked the set at 13-all, Emerson was able to grab the outright lead at 16-13 after a quick 3-0 spirt in the middle of the frame thanks to two Saints errors and an ace. 
• Emmanuel stayed within one of Emerson on five occasions all the way to the very end. With the tight 24-23 lead, Slavik iced the 25-23 victory on a kill and sent the game into the fifth set. 

SET FIVE 

• Emerson found themselves on the other side of a 7-2 deficit to start of the fifth, but began to slowly chip away Emmanuel's five-point lead. 
• The comeback started on a 4-2 run that pulled Emerson within two at 8-6 and then after a kill from McDonald put the score at 9-6, the Lions charged ahead for good with the help of a 7-0 run. 
• A 7-0 run by the Lions, capped off by another Saints attack error, lifted Emerson to the four-point lead at 13-9. 
• Emmanuel stayed close and tallied three points to keep within a pair at 14-12 as Emerson wrapped the 15-12 comeback victory on a swing from Roehm.

UP NEXT 

• Emerson returns to action on Tuesday, March 7th with another GNAC clash out at Lasell at 7:00 p.m.