BOSTON, Mass. – Emerson College defeated Lesley Unviersity 3-0 (25-15, 25-13, 25-11) this afternoon in non-conference men's volleyball action at the Bobbi Brown & Steven Plofker Gymnasium. The win was the first of the season for the Lions as they improve to 1-2 on the season while the loss drops the Lynx to a 0-6 mark.
Emerson junior Jackson Wiley (Los Angeles, Calif.) recorded a match-high 13 kills while swinging at a .333 clip and added a team-best four digs to his line on the day. Freshman Nick Rusk (Weston, Fla.) added eight kills while senior Connor Burtin (Valencia, Calif.) finished with six kills for the hosts. Freshman Brendan McGonigle (Los Angeles, Calif.) set up the offense for the hosts as he led all players with 24 assists on the day.
Lesley sophomore Tyler Burns (Newton, Pa.) and junior Jess Cherry (Lancaster, Pa.) each finished with five kills for the Lynx while sophomore Mitchel Ulacco (Winchester, Mass.) led the visitors with ten assists. Sophomore Jason Hulteen (Galena, Ohio) posted a match-high three blocks on the defensive side while Burns added a pair of stuffs to his line.
The Lions used an 8-2 run late in the first powered by a pair of Rusk kills that gave the hosts a 22-11 edge before rolling to the 25-15 opening set win. Rusk was hot from the get-go as he posted five of his eight kills in the first.
Emerson pulled ahead 5-0 to start the second before Lesley pulled to within three, 10-7, following a Burns kill and a pair of hitting errors from the Lions. Emerson bounced back with another timely run and rode the serve of McGonigle to give them some breathing room as they extended their lead to 16-7 before taking a 2-0 match lead with a 25-13 set win. Wiley powered the hosts' offense in the second as he slammed down seven kills in the set.
The Lynx fell behind early once again in the third before taking an 8-7 lead with a Cherry kill and an ace from freshman Patrick O'Connor (Easton, Conn.). The lead did not last long as Emerson put together an 8-2 streak to take a 15-10 lead and never looked back as they rolled to the 25-11 set win.
The Lynx are off until Tuesday, February 10th when they open New England Collegiate Conference play at Newbury College for a tilt with the Nighthawks at 7:00p.