Emerson Rallies Past Men’s Volleyball, 3-2

Box Score

CHICOPEE, Mass. – Elms College junior middle hitter Yonalvy Acosta (Holyoke, Mass.) and freshman middle hitter Bryson Rainey (Brookline, Mass.) each downed a match-high 21 kills, but Emerson College won the final three sets after falling behind 2-0 in the match to post a 3-2 (23-25, 25-27, 26-25, 28-26, 15-3) victory over the Blazers in Sunday afternoon's non-conference men's volleyball match at Picknelly Arena.

With the loss, Elms slips to 8-10 overall, while Emerson improves to 6-12 on the season.

With the match even at two sets apiece, the sides played to an 11-11 deadlock in the deciding set before Emerson's Frank O'Sullivan (Ottawa, Ontario) smashed a kill and Eric Doherty (Millis, Mass.) served up an ace to give the Lions a 13-11 lead. Blazers' junior opposite hitter Michael Kleckner (Bethlehem, Pa.) answered with a kill but an Elms miscue pushed the lead back to two at 14-12. An Emerson service error allowed the Blazers to pull back to within one at 14-13, before Jeff Ackerstein (Newton, Mass.) drilled a kill to complete the Lions' comeback efforts.

Elms hit at a .291 clip as a squad behind a .471 (21K, 5E, 34TA) effort from Rainey and a .366 mark by Acosta who smashed his 21 kills on 41 swings with just six errors. Acosta also contributed 10 digs in the contest.

Kleckner finished with 11 kills and seven digs, while Rainey amassed a match-high 14 digs and added a solo stuff and five assisted blocks in the losing effort.

Freshman setter Daniel Lebron (San Juan, Puerto Rico) dished out 55 assists, collected 11 digs, downed five kills and floored three aces, while junior outside hitter Michael Martin (Enfield, Conn.) totaled eight kills and seven digs. Senior Joshua Chagnon (Loudon, N.H.) also notched seven digs.

Elms broke out to an early 2-0 lead in the match as the Blazers used a late kill by Acosta and an Emerson service miscue to close out the first set 25-23.

Trailing 24-22 in the second stanza, the Lions used a kill by Nadav Swarttz (Newton, Mass.) and an Elms hitting error to tie the frame at 24-24 before Acosta put the Blazers ahead 25-24 with a kill. Swarttz again responded with a kill but a pair of Emerson mistakes allowed Elms to claim the second set 27-25.

Emerson cut its deficit in the match in half when Chris Davis (Pasadena, Calif.) served up an ace following an Elms attacking error with the score tied at 24-24 to post a 26-24 victory in the third set.

The teams again played to a 24-24 tie in the fourth frame before a kill by Kleckner put the Blazers on the cusp of winning the match at 25-24. O'Sullivan banged a kill and Elms suffered an attacking error to swing match point to Emerson's side at 26-25 before Lebron knotted the set at 26-26 with a kill of his own.  From there, the Lions used an Ackerstein kill coupled with a Blazers' misfire to capture the fourth set 28-26 and force the deciding set five.

Swarttz led four players with double-digit kills for Emerson, notching 17 in the winning effort, while O'Sullivan and Ackerstein tallied 16 each.

Doherty added 11 kills, while Steve Selnick (Cheshire, Conn.) handed out a contest-high 59 helpers.

O'Sullivan dug a team-best 13 balls, while Justin Chun (Honolulu, Hawaii) recorded 10 digs off the bench for the Lions.

Elms returns to North East Collegiate Volleyball Association (NECVA) New England Division action on Tuesday, March 1 when it travels to Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) for a 7:00 p.m. match.