Newton, MA – Emmanuel College defeated the host Lasers, 3-0, using a strong service game and a balanced, efficient hitting attack to win in three sets 25-12, 25-15, 25-11. The Lasers finished the match with 15 kills on 71 attacks and battled inconsistency tallying 19 attacking errors, while Emmanuel had 29 kills and only 9 errors on 67 attacking attempts. The Saints also held a 15-2 edge in service aces to put the hosts on the defensive throughout. Lasell drops to 6-6 on the season and 1-4 in the GNAC, while Emmanuel improved to 6-8 overall and 5-2 in conference play.
Freshman Dan Raffol (Natick, MA) led Lasell with 5 kills and 8 assists, while the Saints Tom McCaffrey and Ashanti Jackson collected seven and six kills respectively. Junior Nick Updike dished out 22 assists and picked up seven service aces on the night for Emmanuel.
The Saints broke open the first set with a 14-2 run that broke a 5-5 tie and cruised to a 25-12 win. The second set was again tight early, before a 10-4 run gave Emmanuel a 15-9 lead. The Lasers attempted to rally scoring two straight to cut the deficit to 15-11 but the Saints proved to be too strong, again closing out the set 25-15 to go up 2-0 in the match.
Emmanuel senior Tom McCaffrey got his squad off to a fast start in the third set tallying 4 kills as the Saints ran out to an 11-0 lead. Lasell scored two of the next three points to briefly slow the visitors, but Updike scored five straight service aces as Emmanuel built their biggest lead at 19-2. The Lasers battled gamely down the stretch but were unable to rally back, falling 25-11, as Emmanuel closed out the match.
Lasell will return to action next Thursday March 8th,when they host GNAC foe Albertus Magnus at 7pm, while Emmanuel will take a 16 day break from competition before taking on MIT and Newbury in a tri-match on March 17th.