Men’s Volleyball: AMCATS Swept by Visiting Saints, 3-0

Paxton, Mass. – The Anna Maria College men's volleyball team dropped the first home game in program history to visiting Emmanuel College, 3-0 (25-9, 25-11, 25-15), in a Great Northeast Athletic Conference matchup on Thursday evening at Fuller Activities Center. The AMCATS dip to 0-2 (0-1 GNAC) on the young season, while the Saints improve to 4-4 (2-2 GNAC).

For the AMCATS, freshman outside hitter Peter Griffenkranz (Deer Park, N.Y.), senior Jonathan Gallardo (Marlboro, Mass.) and junior Michael Goncalves (Milford, Mass.) were strong with three kills each. Freshman Michael Gaudelli (Milford, Mass.) dished out a team-high seven assists while freshman Dylan Copeland (Haverhill, Mass.) had a match-best four digs.

Emmanuel junior setter Sean Baxley (Saint James, NY) amassed 18 assists while junior Ryan Kessler (Santa Claritia, CA) and junior Austin Cockerill (Darien, Conn.) each paced the Saints with seven kills apiece. Three Saints players tied with a team-best three digs in the win.

The Saints opened the match on a 9-0 run off the serve of sophomore Drew Jordan (Braintree, Mass.) to cruise to a 25-9 opening set win.

Anna Maria kept the second set close early on holding a 3-2 lead after a Saints' serving miscue. However Emmanuel would notch 11 out of the next 14 points to push the score to 13-6 en route to the 25-11 second set victory.

In the closest match of the night, Anna Maria would score first with a solo block from Ty Discoe (Pittsfield, Mass.) and hold a 5-4 advantage after a Griffenkranz kill. Anna Maria would only trail 12-10 after Discoe pushed the AMCATS into double-digits with another kill. Emmanuel would respond with a reel off a 7-2 spurt to pull ahead 18-12 while the AMCATS could only muster 3 points down the stretch.

Anna Maria returns to action on Saturday afternoon when they travel to Regis for a 1:00 p.m. non-conference match.