Lasers' Updates 02/17/2009

Men's Volleyball

The Lasers have played four matches in as many days, splitting the weekend evenly at 2-2. Lasell matched up in a Great Northeast Athletic Conference contest on Friday, beating Johnson & Wales in three, then lost two on the road at Elms College on Saturday in a tri-match with Wentworth.  The Lasers closed out the long weekend with a Monday night victory over Daniel Webster College.

For the second time this season the Lasers beat Johnson & Wales, 3-0. Dan Rogers (Belchertown, Mass.) was the big hitter, leading with 10 kills, and adding 3 blocks and 5 digs.  Rogers was assisted by freshman setter Brendan McGourn (Southington, Conn.), who distributed 32 assists on the evening and also took Lasell on multiple service runs to pull away from the Wildcats.  Andy Cass (Wakefield, RI) and Joe Lipski (Burlington, Conn.) were top performers defensively with 7 and 6 digs correspondingly. The Lasers closed out the match by scores of 30-24, 30-16, and 33-31.

Lasell faced a tough Wentworth Institute of Technology first at the tri-match with Elms College.  The Lasers forced five games as the teams battled for the deciding set, but the Lasers came up short, dropping the match 32-30, 29-31, 30-24, 18-30, 17-15.

David Rogers (Belchertown, Mass.) and Cass were dominant on the outside, putting down 14 kills apiece.  Cass had an incredible match, matching his 14 kills with 14 digs, and adding 6 blocks, including five solo blocks.  Lasell's libero Lipski was relentless on defense, picking up 19 digs in the match, and McGourn put in an 11 kill, 6 block, 4 dig performance. 

Lasell then faced the prevailing Blazer squad who swept the tri-match in 3 sets each.  The Blazers were tough, holding the Lasers to just 17, 18, and 20 points in each of the three games. Dustin Foster (Ashford, Conn.) had a team-best eight kills, and McGourn set up 19 assists.  Trevor Foster (Ashford, Conn.) and Dave Rogers each put away six kills, while Lipski and Cass favored on defense for six digs each.

In the final match of the weekend, Lasell flew off with a 3-0 triumph over the Eagles of Daniel Webster College.  The Lasers improved their record to 7-6 after the win and remain at 3-2 in the GNAC. 

Dave Rogers was on fire from the opening play, climaxing at a near double-double of 10 kills and nine digs.  Trevor Foster was next offensively for Lasell.  The freshman middle had 8 kills on 11 attempts, hitting a .545 clip in three sets.  McGourn continued his strong play, adding 6 kills to 35 assists.  Cass jumped into the libero position grabbing 10 digs in the match.

For the second consecutive week, Brendan McGourn (left) has been selected the GNAC Rookie of the Week.  McGourn was selected after averaging 10 assists, 1.87 kills, 1.14 digs, and .57 blocks per game in a 3-2 week for Lasell.

Women's Basketball

The Lasers have had one game since the last update, playing conference leading Emmanuel and losing in a 76-54 GNAC competition. 

Lasell stayed close with the Saints early on, but soon fell behind after Emmanuel went on two strong scoring runs and the Lasers had trouble connecting on their shots.  Heading into the break, the Lasers were down 42-24.

The Lasers found their touch at the beginning of the second half, but the hole was too deep at that point and they were unable find their way back from the deficit.    Senior captain and guard Shauna Kelly (Quincy, Mass.) was the high-scorer for Lasell with 15 points, including seven free throws. Tricia Culver (North Hampton, Mass.) shot 50% from the field, and completed 11 points, and sophomore point guard Katie Farr (Rindge, NH) had four assists and 6 points in the effort.

Lasell is back in action tonight, when they host the Cadets of Norwich University in a 6pm start. Tuesday's game also marks Senior Night for Shauna Kelly and Katie Schumitz (Milford, Conn.) as their final home contest, and is also the Lasers' Pink Zone game benefitting Breast Cancer research.

Men's Basketball

Jose Guitian (Miami, FL) has repeated as the Great Northeast Athletic Conference Player of the Week for five straight weeks.  This week, Guitian was chosen after a spectacular week, where he led the Lasers to two conference victories.  The senior captain averaged 28 points, 9.5 rebounds, and 3.5 blocks per game.  He began the week with 19 points, 6 rebounds, 6 blocks and 3 assists against Mount Ida, then finished with 37 points and 13 boards against Suffolk.

The Lasers avenged an earlier loss in the season to Suffolk University on Saturday afternoon, putting away a 98-71 win over the Rams.  Guitian was the high scorer of the contest, with 37 points, 32 of which were scored in an amazing first half.  Freshman guards Javon Williams (Mattapan, Mass.) and Kevin Richard (New Orleans, LA) gave great performances for Lasell also.  Williams knocked down seven points and grabbed seven boards, adding 3 blocks and four assists, while Richard handed out 12 assists and picked up five steals.

Four Lasell seniors were also honored prior to the start of the game. Captains Jose Guitian and Brad Caravoulias (Dracut, Mass.), along with Junior Sainval (Miami, FL) and Kevin Fallon (Manasquan, NJ) each celebrated, along with their families, as they bring their final season to a close at Lasell. The senior's final regular season home contest will be tonight, Tuesday, February 17th against Emerson College, at 8:00 p.m.