NEWTON, MA- In their Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) men's volleyball season opener, the Lasell College Lasers triumphed in a three set sweep (25-23, 25-18, 25-20) of Emerson College on Friday night. Sophomore outside hitter Spencer Parker (Newington, CT) put away 17 kills and collected seven digs in an outstanding showing against the Lions.
All three sets were close in the early going before Lasell was able to establish narrow margins through the mid-to-late teens to eventually come out on top.
In the first set, Lasell developed brief bursts to pull ahead by two or three points, however the Lions kept in step with the Lasers, leading up to a 12-all tie. Attacks by Max Vaughan (Wethersfield, CT) and Micah Aiu (Honolulu, HI), plus a service ace by Alexander Mill (Danville, NH) gave Lasell a 15-12 edge, however the Lions managed to keep within a few points due mostly to the efforts of Nadav Swarttz (Newton, MA) who put away five kills in the set.
With the Lasers on top 19-15, Emerson staged a 5-2 comeback run which brought them within one point (21-20). Miscues on both sides of the net gave the Lasers their first set-point, 24-21, but a service error by Lasell kept the Lions alive. With a one point edge (24-23), Parker defiantly slammed down a final kill off of serve receive, to earn the 25-23 win.
The second set was similar in progression as the teams lingered within a short distance through the 10th point on each side. At this point, Lasell staged an 10-3 run to take a 20-13 lead by capitalizing on Lion mistakes.
The Lasers permitted the Lions just five additional points, coming to game point at 24-17. A kill down the right side line by Matthew Dionne (Danville, NH) connecting on an Andrew Glenn (Westport, CT) set sealed game two, 25-18.
In the final outing, the squads once again knotted the game at 10-all before Lasell took a modest lead. This time, the Lions recovered to equalize the score at 20-all after a kill by Eric Doherty (Millis, MA). A Lion service error broke up their rally and Lasell went on to score five straight points to cap the match.
Glenn handed out 34 of Lasell's 39 total assists in the match, while also picking up seven digs. Harry Strobel (Westport, CT) and Mill each earned five points off their attack in the match, with Strobel leading all hitters by connecting on 71.4% of his total attempts. Aiu also was responsible for scooping up seven digs.
In the conference setback, Emerson was led offensively by Swarttz who put away nine kills, and made 24 total swings in the contest. Steve Selnick (Cheshire, CT) pushed off 25 helpers while also aiding with five digs, and Doherty had a game-best nine digs in the Lions backcourt.
As a team, Lasell produced on 23% of their attacks, while Emerson put away just 13.1%. Lasell also out-blocked the visitors 8-5 and held a 4-1 edge in service aces. Lasell improves to 6-3 this season, and starts out conference play with a 1-0 slate. Emerson drops to 4-3 overall and 3-2 in GNAC action.
Both teams return to non-conference action in their next contests. Lasell heads to Newbury College on Monday, February 7th while Emerson travels to Wentworth on Wednesday. The start time for both matches is 7:00 p.m.
