No. 13 Engineers Top Emerson in Men’s Volleyball

Courtesy of Emerson College Sports Information

BOSTON, Mass. – Emerson College hung through the first two sets, but MIT’s depth and height proved too much for the Lions as the 13th ranked Engineers took a 30-22, 30-26, 30-16 non-conference men’s volleyball victory at Emerson’s Brown & Plofker Gym on Tuesday.

The teams traded the first 13 points of the first set as neither side could muster any type of consistent offense. The Engineers twice opened a three-point lead only to see Emerson rally and close to within a single marker.

MIT was able to establish a 16-12 advantage following an attack error by Emerson. The Engineers then returned the favor, and following a kill to win back the serve, delivered a service error to shrink the margin to 17-14. An Emerson service error followed by a point of a rally and a kill by the Engineers’ Matt Hohenberger stretched the lead to 20-14. The Lions picked up the next two points on a kill by Kameron Tarlow and an Engineer attack error, but the four-point deficit was as close as Emerson would come, with MIT ultimately taking a 30-22 set.

The second set began in a similar fashion with MIT taking a 10-9 lead on a kill by Patrick Vatterott. Troy Tamas then served three straight points including an ace to open a 13-9 MIT advantage. Emerson was able to pull within 15-13 on a block by Frank O’Sullivan and Jesse Hangen. After an exchange of attack points, a kill by Tamas, a service ace from Caine Jette, and a point off a long rally moved the Engineer margin to 19-14.

Following a service error, a kill by MIT’s Mike Demyttenaere maintained the five-point advantage, but Demyttenaere gave a point back with a service error and a kill by the Lion’s Tarlow brought Emerson back to within 20-17. MIT stretched the lead back to five on attacks by Tamas and Hohenberger, but a service error followed by an O’Sullivan attack gave the next two points to the Lions. Emerson was able to pull within two points on three different occasions, the last at 28-26 on an attack error, but successful kills by Hohenberger and Tamas concluded the set with a 30-26 final tally.

Emerson opened a 2-0 lead to begin the third set but after a 4-4 deadlock early in the frame, the Engineers took control. Demyttenaere and Vatterott each had a strong set with four kills apiece as the Engineers opened up a 24-10 lead and coasted to a 30-16 victory.

Vatterott registered a team-high 13 kills and a .500 hitting percentage to go along with two blocks. Demyttenaere finished with 11 kills, a .350 hitting performance and two blocks as Hohenberger compiled seven kills, a .429 hitting percentage, and two aces. David Thomas contributed seven kills while Tamas picked up a pair of aces in one set. Eric Reuland paced the defense with seven digs as Jeremy Velazquez added five of his own. Tim Lee tallied 24 assists, four digs, and three blocks in two sets while Jette dished out 13 assists in the second stanza. As a team, the Engineers were flawless on serve receive as they did not surrender an ace in 55 reception attempts.

With the win, MIT moved to 5-1 on the season, while the match was Emerson’s season opener. The Engineers travel to Southern Vermont College on Friday for a 7:00 p.m. match. Emerson will travel to Rivier Tuesday evening for a 7:00 p.m. Great Northeast Athletic Conference start.