NEWTON, Mass. (9/13/14) – The Lasell College women's volleyball team swept a pair of non-conference matches on Saturday afternoon, defeating Wentworth Institute of Technology 3-2 in their opening match then closed out the afternoon by defeating Maine Maritime Academy 3-1. Wentworth knocked off Maine Maritime Academy in the second match of the day, 3-0. Wentworth improved to 5-4 overall following their split, MMA dropped to 0-6 on the season, while the Lasers picked up their first two wins of the campaign to move to 2-10.
Lasell 3 – Wentworth 2
The Lasers battled back from a 1-0 and 2-1 deficits in the match versus the visiting Leopards, dropping the first set 25-21, winning the second 25-23, falling 25-22 in the third before pulling out 25-18 and 15-11 victories to claim a 3-2 win in the match.
Freshmen Michele Canestro (Castleton, N.Y.) and Odina Ellis (Providence, R.I.) posted 13 and 12 kills respectively for the Lasers, who also got nine kills from junior Heather Longley (No. Granby, Conn.). Taylor Tiezzi (Meriden, Conn.) paced the Lasers with 19 assists and Alyssa Nahigian (Coventry, R.I.) added 15 assists. Freshmen Caitlyn Garcia (Moreno Valley, Calif.) added a team-high 14 digs, and was joined in double figures digs by Canestro who tallied 13. Odina Ellis also added four solo blocks and on block assist in the win.
Junior Hannah Bailey (Plymouth, Mass.) notched 12 kills and 12 digs to lead Wentworth while freshmen Sydney Myers (Arnold, Md.) chipped in 10 kills, four service aces and nine digs. Senior Shannon Ponce (San Jose, Calif.) handed out a match-high 33 assists and freshmen Katelyn Carlson (Stratford, Conn.) posted a match-best 17 digs for the Leopards.
Wentworth 3 – Maine Maritime 0
The Leopards picked up the three set victory by scores of 25-8, 25-19, and 25-17 over the Mariners.
Hannah Bailey led the efficient Leopards attack with 12 kills as Wentworth posted a .213 hitting percentage in the match. Katelyn Carlson added six kills and Sydney Meyers and Kayla Gendreau (Hudson, N.H.) each chipped in four kills. Wentworth tallied 14 services aces in the three set affair, with Carlson, Meyers, Sam Curran (Quincy, Mass.) and Griffin Sacco (New Fairfield, Conn.) each recording three apiece. Curran chipped in a team-high 10 digs and Amanda Hunton (Monroe, N.Y.) dished out 10 assists.
Sydney Robertson (Barnstead, N.H.) paced Maine Maritime with a team-best 10 kills, and Gillian O'Neal (Burbank, Calif.) added eight kills and seven digs. Betsy Trenckman (La Veto, Colo.) recorded a match-high 18 assists for the Mariners and Jess Menges (Old Forge, N.Y.) finished with 10 digs to lead the MMA defense.
Lasell 3 – Maine Maritime 1
The Lasers held off the visiting Mariners 25-16, 25-19, 21-25 and 25-20 to win their second consecutive match of the season.
The Lasers balanced attack posted a .117 hitting percentage in the win with Odina Ellis tallying 11 kills and four solo blocks, Heather Longley added nine kills, Michele Canestro chipped in eight kills and seven digs and Kathy Cameron (Boston, Mass.) notched six kills and two total blocks. Taylor Tiezzi orchestrated the Lasell offense with 24 assists and four service aces while Caitlyn Garcia tallied a team-high 17 digs and four services aces.
Maine Maritime's Gillian O'Neal recorded a match-best 16 kills and a team-high 16 digs, while Sydney Robertson joined her in double digits with 10 kills. Betsy Trenckman distributed 35 assists for MMA, who also got seven kills and 12 digs from Molly Marcotte (Seekonk, Mass.).
The Lasers will return to action on Tuesday September 16th when they host Rhode Island College at 7:00 p.m. Maine Maritime will open North Atlantic Conference play on Tuesday September 16th when they host Husson University at 7:00 p.m. Wentworth travels to Suffolk University for a non-conference match-up with the Rams at 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday the 16th.