Newton, Mass.- Dave Rogers (Belchertown, Mass.) put down a game-best 15 kills for the Lasell College men's volleyball team in a 3-1 win over University of New Haven tonight in the Lasell Athletic Center. This is the third time this season that the Lasers and the Chargers have met, and the second time that Lasell has come out on top.
In the first set, the Lasers took an easy victory over the Chargers 30-16. Lasell went up by a commanding 10 points at 20-10, then pushed ahead further with Trevor Foster (Ashford, Conn.) serving six points to give Lasell a 27-12 lead. Ryan Earl (Greenville, NY) stopped the run dumping a kill into the middle of the Lasers court. However, Lasell regained control of the board and Dave Rogers and Dustin Foster (Ashford, Conn.) finished the final two points for the Lasers with side-outs out of serve receive.
Rogers followed in the second game with seven kills on ten attempts, with no errors in the set. Gregg Brisbin (Richland, NJ) kept New Haven alive with five kills attacking from the middle, but it was not enough as Lasell went ahead early again and held on to a 30-24 win.
Lasell looked like they were on their way to a sweep when the Charges took control of the third set. The teams tied at 8-all, but New Haven went ahead on a six point run, taking advantage of errors made by Lasell, including 7 service errors. After coming from behind to tie at 17-17, the Lasers hit a set back once again and the Chargers came out on top 30-24.
The final set was close throughout, with the Lasers falling into a deficit early, then regaining control on a streak set forth by Dustin Foster which included back-to-back service aces to take the lead. After the Lasers went up 21-15, the Chargers inched their way back in to a close 28-26. A second ball attack by setter Brendan McGourn (Southington, Conn.) and a final attack error by New Haven gave the Lasers the match decider, 30-26.
In addition to his 15 kills, Rogers added 7 digs over the course of the four sets. Trevor Foster had 12 kills to go along with 3 blocks and 4 digs and Matt Roberts (Agawam, Mass.) had an additional 10 kills and three blocks for the Lasers. McGourn assisted 47 times for the attackers and added three blocks and 8 digs. Lasell's libero Joseph Lipski (Burlington, Conn.) who just recently broke the Lasers career dig record, picked up an incredible 18 digs in the match.
Brisbin and Peter Kazlas (Allentown, PA) each put down 10 kills for the visitors, adding a combined 6 blocks between them. Earl finished with 39 assists and the Chargers defense was spread evenly with John Sedlock (Shelton, Conn.) picking up eight digs, and Austin Miachalski (Voorheesville, NY) and Julian du Pont (Westport, Conn.) each collecting seven more. New Haven finished the evening with a 4-11 record.
Lasell is now at the 18-9 mark with two more regular season matches to go before heading into post-season play. The Lasers will have a week break and will pick up play again March 24th against Mount Ida College on their home court at 7:00 p.m.