NEWTON, Mass. (10/28/17) – The Lasell women's volleyball team swept a Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) tri-match on Saturday afternoon, defeating Anna Maria 3-0, and Norwich University 3-1 inside the Lasell Athletic Center. The Lasers finish out the regular season riding a six game conference win streak, and improve to 19-19 overall and 8-4 in GNAC play.
The Lasers swung into 13 service aces against the AMCATS, three coming from freshman Allie Jo Amos (Prescott, Ariz.). Michele Canestro (Castleton, N.Y.) was just shy of a double-double with nine kills and nine digs, while Kelly Cappitella (East Haddam, Conn.) hit .200 with eight kills. Taylor Tiezzi (Meriden, Conn.) and Katie Schneider (Covina, Calif.) split setting duties, with Schneider dishing out a match-high 19 assists.
Despite the setback, Anna Maria sophomore Hannah Mitchell (Pittsfield, Mass.) was the lone player on both sides to reach double figures in kills, adding 10 on a .261 swinging percentage. The AMCATS had strong defensive performance from Rebecca Foti (Bedford, N.H.), Carolina Garcia (Springfield, Mass.), Victoria Falco (Marlborough, Mass.), and Sarah Lathrop (Waterford, Conn.), who all reached double defensive digits. Kerri Earle served up 18 assists in the effort.
The Cadets took the AMCATS by storm in the neutral match, splitting the day to shift to 12-14 overall and 3-9 against league opponents. With the pair of losses, Anna Maria drops to 4-22 and 1-11 in conference play.
Norwich freshman Julia Schroeder (Victorville, Calif.) led all players with 12 kills and two aces for 14 overall points. Classmate Kathryn Farnum (North Andover, Mass.) rounded out double digit kills numbers with 10, while Schroeder and Brianna Dawson (Katonah, N.Y.) hit the floor for ten digs apiece.
Foti steered the defensive effort for the AMCATS, registering 15 of the teams' 39 digs. Foti and Lathrop added a team-best six kills.
In the final match of the afternoon, Lasell took the first set from the Cadets by a set score of 25-15, but the Cadets avenged the hosts with a 25-20 second set win. The Cadets used back to back attack errors from the Lasers for the set point opportunity, where Marissa Perrotti (Moultonborough, N.H.) served up an ace to keep Norwich in the game. With Canestro on the serve, Lasell ran out to a 5-0 start in the third frame and took the set 25-14, before sealing the match victory with another 25-15 score.
The power aces kept coming for the Lasers, as the home team swung into 17 total compared to Norwich's five. Caitlyn Garcia (Moreno Valley, Calif.) led the Lasers with 6 aces, while Olivia Addington (Orange, Calif.) swung into four. Addington served as Lasell's attack leader with 15 kills and 10 digs for her 14th double-double of the season. Canestro was not far behind, adding 11 kills, while Mickayla Shelburn (Waterford, Conn.) added 10 of her own.
The Lasell defense disallowed any Cadet to reach double digit kill numbers, with Michele Zummo (Highland Mills, N.Y.) leading the charge on eight kills, and 10 digs. Zummo, Dawson and Farnum collectively recorded 35 of Norwich's 55 total digs.
The Lasers will await their playoff fate, and hope to clinch the No. 4 seed for the post-season tournament. The quarterfinal match is set for Tuesday, October 31, with game time and venue to be determined.