Men’s Volleyball Goes 1-2 at MIT Invitational

Men’s Volleyball Goes 1-2 at MIT Invitational

Cambridge, Mass. (02/17/13) – The Lasell College men's volleyball team went 1-2 in three games over the weekend at the MIT Invitational. The Lasers earned a 3-0 victory over York College (N.Y.) in their opening match on Saturday evening. Lasell returned to play #15 MIT in their first match on Sunday, falling to the host Engineers in three sets before falling 3-1 to the Gulls of Endicott College in the weekend finale. Sophomore Dan Raffol (Natick, Mass.) was named to the all-tournament team after finishing the three matches with 42 kills, 24 digs, four aces and a pair of blocks. The weekend's action left the Lasers with a 2-3 record on the season.

Lasell vs. York
After cruising to a comfortable 25-13 victory in the first set of the match against the Cardinals, Lasell was pushed to the limit in both the second and third sets, picking up slim victories 29-27 and 28-26 to take the match.
Lasell used a 6-0 edge in service aces and strong defensive effort at the net, finishing with 12 total blocks to overcome the Cardinals slightly more efficient hitting performance. Sophomore Dan Raffol posted a match-best 15 kills and finished with 10 digs to key the Lasell effort. Senior Alex Mill (Danville, N.H.) was second on the team with 10 kills adding seven digs and a pair of blocks, and classmate Chris Burns (Chelmsford, Mass.) had a match-high 17 digs. The Lasers setting duo of Ryan Jackson (Massilon, Ohio) and Matt Dugan (New Lenox, Ill.) tallied 18 and 15 assists respectively.

Lasell vs. MIT

In their Sunday morning tilt, Lasell battled it out with 15th ranked MIT, dropping a three set affair to the host Engineers. MIT picked up a slim 25-22 win in the opening set, and then closed out the Lasers with 25-19 and 25-21 victories in the final two sets. The hosts used a strong defensive effort, coming up with 36 digs to Lasell's 21 and out-hitting the Lasers .364 to .284 on the match.

Raffol finished with 16 kills in the match, with Drew Caruso (Haverhill, Mass.) and Julius Rosario (Stoughton, Mass.) each adding five kills. Matt Dugan totaled 19 assists and Ryan Jackson added 12 helpers.

Lasell vs. Endicott
In the third match of the event, the Lasers dropped a tough four-set match against the Gulls of Endicott College. After falling 25-17 in the first set, Lasell was narrowly edged out in the second set 25-23. The Laser charged back to pick up a convincing 25-14 win in set three, but their come from behind win hopes were dashed as Endicott closed out the match 25-18.
Raffol was again the high man for Lasell notching 11 kills and eight digs, while Mill finished with eight kills for Lasell. Matt Dionne (Danville, N.H.) had his best performance of the year chipping in five kills and a match-high 3.5 blocks. Chris Burns had a match-high 13 digs for Lasell, and Ryan Jackson finished with a team-high 21 assists, while adding 7 digs, 3 kills and a pair of blocks in the losing effort.
Lasell will travel to Regis College on Thursday Feb. 21st at 7:00 p.m. before visiting Newbury College for a Saturday tri-match with Elms where they will play at 1:00 p.m. and 3:00 p.m.