NEWTON, Mass. (9/30/14) – The Lasell College women's volleyball team lost a Great Northeast Athletic Conference matchup to the visiting Sharks of Simmons College, 3-1 on Tuesday evening. The Lasers drop to 2-17 overall and 0-3 in the league while the Sharks improve to 3-10 on the year and 3-1 in conference play.
Heather Longley (North Granby, Conn.) and Meredith Eagan (North Andover, Mass.) each notched eight kills for Lasell, with Longley also chipping in three total blocks. Taylor Tiezzi (Meriden, Conn.) chipped in a double-double with 25 assists and 18 digs, Odina Ellis (Providence, R.I.) added five kills and two and a half blocks and Kathy Cameron (Boston, Mass.) tallied five kills for Lasell.
Simmons was led by Emmee Ashby (Payson, Ariz.) and Sarah Woodard (Deerfield, Mass.) with 15 and 11 kills respectively, with Ashbee also recording three and a half total blocks. Andalyn Duke (Litchfield Park, Ariz.) dished out a match-best 38 assists in directing the efficvient Sharks attack which hit .186 for the four set affair. Alex Itasaka (Bradford, Mass.), Kat Guillotte (New Bedford, Mass.) and Chanel Thomas (Phoenix, Ariz.) made strong defensive contributions with 14, 11 and 11 digs each.
Simmons took the first set of the match, 25-19, using a 10-1 run to turn a 10-7 deficit into a 17-11 lead on their way to taking a 1-0 lead. The Sharks trailed 13-7 in the second set before again rallying with a 13-3 burst which helped them to a 20-16 advantage and they held on to go in front 2-0 behind a 25-22 final score in the second set.
Simmons went out quickly in the third set, taking a 12-8 lead before Lasell dug in and rallied by scoring 10 of the next 13 points on their way to a 25-21 victory to leave the match at 2-1. The fourth set was close in the early going, and the two sides were knotted at 12-12 before a 7-1 run by Simmons left the visitors leading 19-13 and they held on for a 25-15 victory in the set and a 3-1 win in the match.
Simmons will return to the court on Saturday October 4th when they travel to MIT for a tri-match with the Engineers and Tufts University at 10:30 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. Lasell will head to Suffolk for a GNAC tri-match against the Rams and Rivier as they look for their first conference win of the season.