Blazers Earn Conference Road Win Against Emerson

BOSTON, MA - The Elms College Men's Volleyball team matched up against Emerson College in a conference matchup on Thursday night.

BASICS
Score: Elms College 3 (21, 25, 25, 25) | Emerson College (25, 20, 16, 16)
Records: Blazers 7-18, 2-8 (GNAC) | Lions 4-13, 2-7 (GNAC)

HOW IT HAPPENED
Elms jumped out to a quick lead in the first set, courtesy of kills from first-year Nick Uschmann (Agawam, MA) and graduate student Pedro De Jesus (East Hartford, CT). Emerson stormed back, forcing Elms to commit a couple of errors to tie the match. Uschmann and De Jesus continued to keep Elms in the set with their offense. Emerson continued to stay close to the Blazers and recorded a couple of kills on their own. First-year John Bellafronte (Enfield, CT) and De Jesus provided some late offense from Elms to pull the Blazers within 1 point, but the Lions closed the set out, winning 25-21.

Elms started off the second set down early. Emerson completely took the Blazers by storm. The Blazers settled in when they received a couple points from kills by De Jesus and forced the Lions to commit some errors on their end. Emerson committed a plethora of service aces, and Uschmann also provided a couple kills to give the Blazers the lead. With the momentum, De Jesus and Bellafronte recorded the last couple of kills, resulting in Elms winning the second set.

Elms stormed ahead in the third set, as the Blazers were aggressive and forced Emerson to commit more errors, which resulted in Blazers points. Later in the set, Bellafronte contributed a couple of kills along with sophomore Rafa Artero (Madrid, Spain) and first-year Joey Crain (Southwick, MA). Uschmann and De Jesus would chip in, giving the Blazers another lead. Emerson committed three straight attack errors at the end of the second, giving the Blazers another set win.

Elms started off the fourth set down, as Emerson recorded a couple of kills, desperate to keep the match alive. However, Elms took advantage of four straight attack errors by the Lions and regained the lead. De Jesus and Artero each recorded kills, and Uschmann chipped in a late kill of his own to put the Blazers up 17-13. De Jesus recorded the last four kills for Elms, giving the Blazers a convincing set and match win.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

• De Jesus: 21 kills and two digs.

• Uschmann: 11 kills and eight digs.

• Graduate student Collin Liedke (Newington, CT): 29 assists and 10 digs.

UP NEXT: The Blazers will be at home on Saturday, March 30th at 11AM against Emmanuel at Picknelly Arena.

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