Men's Volleyball Falls to Rivier, 3-0 in GNAC Match

NEWTON, Mass. (3/25/14) – The Lasell College men's volleyball team dropped a 3-0 result to nationally ranked Rivier University on Tuesday evening by scores of 25-21. 25-15 and 25-15. The Lasers fell to 16-6 on the year and 5-4 in Great Northeast Athletic Conference action while Rivier improved to 23-5 overall while staying perfect at 11-0 in GNAC play.

Dan Raffol (Natick, Mass.) finished with a team-high 10 kilks, while Jeff Vautrin (Chicopee, Mass.) added nine kills, eight digs, and a pair of service aces for the Lasers. Andrew Glenn (Westport, Conn.)  handed out 24 assists and Matt Dugan (New Lenox, Ill.) notched eight digs for the Lasers who struggled with their hitting efficiency, finishing with a .082 hitting percentage and 24 attacking errors.

Rivier hit .389 on the night, led by Terrence Matatall (Danville, N.H.) with 10 kills on 16 attacks without an error and 2.5 total blocks. Chris Markuson (Cupertino, Calif.) added seven kills and four digs and Matt Bynon (Burnt Hills, N.Y.) finished with a team-high eight digs. Tyler Blank (Rochester, N.Y.) dished out 30 assists while directing the Raiders attack.

Lasell trailed 8-5 in the early going before scoring three straight, including a pair of Raffol kills tying the opening set at 8-8. The two teams traded points over the next stretch that featured eight ties, including the last tie of the set at 18-18. Rivier closed out the set on a 7-3 run, featuring three kills and an assisted block by Matatall to win 25-21.

Rivier ran out to a 5-2 lead in the early going of the second set but Lasell responded with three straight points to tie the score at 5-5. The Raiders used a 16-6 spurt over the next 22 points to break the second set open, taking a 21-11 lead en-route to their 25-15 win in the second set.

The third set started out with much the same path as the previous one with Rivier opening up a small lead and Lasell drawing back into the set. Rivier turned a 7-7 tie into a 13-8 lead using a pair of kills by Sam Kazlas (Allentown, Pa.) but Lasell continued to fight back, cutting the visitors lead to 14-12 but the Lasers were unable to draw any closer as Rivier closed out the set and the match with an 11-3 run down the stretch.

Lasell will visit Emmanuel on Thursday March 27^th before heading to Johnson and Wales University for a GNAC tri-match with the Wildcats and a re-match of tonight's pairing with Rivier. The Raiders will be off until the March 29^th tri-match with JWU and Lasell.