FRANKLIN, Mass. (February 5, 2026) – Dean College rallied to win the final two sets and secure a 3-2 (25-23, 23-25, 18-25, 25-15, 15-11) victory over Emerson College in a non-conference men's volleyball match at Pieri Gymnasium tonight.
Senior Hunter Armitage dished out 34 assists to go with nine digs for Dean, while first-year Brandon Mimande posted a double-double with 11 kills and ten digs. Sophomore Noah Allan contributed eight kills, a service ace, solo block and four digs, while first-year Travis Johnson chipped in seven kills, nine digs and six blocks, finishing with a team-high 13.0 points.
First-year Ryan Chen distributed 33 assists that helped set up three double-digit kill performers for Emerson, adding 13 digs for his second-straight double-double and two blocks. Junior Riley Goldman paced the Lions attack with a career-high 19 kills and eight digs, with a block and assist, scoring a career-best 20.0 points. First-year Cade Ott notched his second-straight double-double with a career-best 12 kills and ten digs with two aces and two blocks, while sophomore Mario Cielo-Salinas added a season-high 13 kills with eight digs and two assists.
Dean grabbed an early advantage by closing out the first set with an 8-5 run, scoring the final five points of the set, including four on senior Arthur Felicio's serve with the Lions committing three errors before Mimande closed it out with a kill.
Emerson turned up the attack to take the next two sets behind .267 hitting as a team in the second set and then .364 in the third to close in on the win. The Lions used a 7-0 run with six-straight points coming on Cielo-Salinas' serve to turn a one-point deficit (15-14) into a six-point lead (21-15), keyed by three kills from Goldman. Emerson closed out the third set with a 7-1 run, sparked by kills from Goldman and Cielo-Salinas, while first year Jack Ferrie served up a pair of aces.
Dean would take control of the fourth set from the start and forced the fifth and deciding set. Emerson held an early lead in the set, but the Bulldogs sealed the match with an 8-1 run, led by a pair of kills from Felicio, for match point (14-9). Cielo-Salinas and a block kept the Lions alive (14-11), but their 20th service error closed out the match for Dean.
Emerson (2-3, 0-0 GNAC) returns to action on Saturday when it hosts Curry College for a non-conference match at Bobbi Brown and Steven Plofker Gymnasium at 5 p.m. Dean (3-3. 0-0 GNAC) visits Wheaton College on Tuesday at 7 p.m.
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