BOSTON, Mass. (March 21, 2026) – Emerson College earned its first Conference win of the season with a 3-1 (25-23, 25-23, 27-29, 25-22) triumph over Dean College in a Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) men's volleyball matchup at Bobbi Brown & Steven Plofker Gymnasium today.

First year setter Ryan Chen dished out 37 assists to spearhead the Emerson attack, adding four block assists, four digs and a service ace. Sophomore Mario Cielo-Salinas paced the Lions attack with a season-high 15 kills, posting a .300 hitting percentage, with three service aces and five digs, while junior Riley Goldman tallied 13 kills and three digs.

Chen dished out 37 assists and recorded four block assists for the Lions (PHOTO BY Jim Pierce Sports Photography)

Sophomore Cash Muse contributed nine kills and just one attack error for a .471 hitting percentage with four aces and two block assists, while first year Cade Ott chipped in six kills and just one error for the Lions.

Senior Hunter Armitage dished out 41 assists for Dean with four digs. Sophomore Noah Allan and first year Brandon Mimande each recorded a team-high 14 kills for the Bulldogs with Mimande notching a double-double by adding 12 digs and three blocks, while Allen added two aces, six digs and two blocks. First year Travis Johnson contributed 11 kills, three aces and eight digs for the Bulldogs.

Emerson rallied from an 11-4 deficit to take the opening set, largely on the serve of first year Jack Ferrie who produced a 6-0 run to close within two (14-12), serving up three aces during that stretch. He was also on serve as the Lions closed out the set with the final five points, adding a fourth ace to go with kills from Muse, Cielo-Salinas and Ott.

Emerson clinched the second set behind four kills by Cielo-Salinas and three blocks by Ferrie. Dean held the largest lead by either team at 4-1 early in a set that included nine ties and five lead changes. Ott sealed a 2-0 lead for the Lions with a kill.

Dean rallied from a 21-14 deficit to force a fourth set behind six kills from Mimande in a set that included 13 ties and six more lead changes. Emerson closed out its first GNAC win of the season behind six kills by Cielo-Salinas in the fourth set, while Chen dished out 12 assists and the Lions got aces from four different players. Muse pulled the Lions within a point of the win before clinching on a service error.

Emerson (4-10, 1-3 GNAC) returns to action on Thursday when it visits No. 15-ranked Wentworth Institute of Technology for a GNAC match at 7 p.m. The Lions are back on Boylston Street the following night on Friday to host Wheaton College for a makeup of a March 5 postponement at Brown & Plofker at 6 p.m. Dean (6-14, 0-3 GNAC) hosts No. 15 Wentworth on Tuesday at 7 p.m.

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