BOSTON, Mass. – The Lasell College men's volleyball team downed Emerson College 3-1 in Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) action Tuesday evening by set scores of 25-18, 16-25, 25-18, and 25-21. The Lasers improve to 14-11 overall and 10-1 in the GNAC, while the Lions drop to 9-13 this season and 5-7 in league play.
Lasell opened the first set with three unanswered points before the Lions Stig Regan landed a kill to put Emerson on the board, 3-1. Both teams traded points with the Lasers holding a slight lead late into the set. The Lions brought it to within 1 point as Austin Pinckney scored a kill followed by a solo block to bring the score up 14-13. Lasell kicked it into overdrive and pulled away to close out the set 25-18, highlighted by several late kills from junior Tristan Davis (Rochester, N.Y.).
In the second set the Lasers again jumped out to a quick 3-0 lead, but the Lions weren't going down without a fight. With the score tied at 8-8, the Lions went on a run and jumped out to a commanding 21-11 lead on a montage of points from Jackson Wiley. The Lasers attempted to get back into the set, but Regan and Wiley closed it out for the Lions with a final score of 25-16.
The third set again saw Lasell take a 3-0 lead before the Lions got on the board thanks to a kill by Mark Piorkowski. Late in the set Emerson started to close the gap, but the early lead proved to be too much as junior Patrick MacDonald (Floral Park N.Y.) closed out the set for Lasell, 25-18.
In the final set the Lasers took an impressive 10-0 lead. Again the Lions refused to quit as they battled for every point and eventually got within striking distance as Nick Rusk landed a service ace to bring the lions within two, 22-20. Feeling the pressure on match point, Lasell's MacDonald made an attack error to give the Lions their final point with the score at 24-21. MacDonald then redeemed himself by scoring the final kill of the match to close out the set 25-21.
Stat leaders for Lasell included Davis with 14 kills, three service aces, and four digs. Right behind him was MacDonald with 11 kills and six digs. Freshman Jordan Aprea (Newington, Conn.) led Lasell defensively with 12 digs, while senior Andrew Glenn (Westport, Conn.) added 37 assists.
Leading for the Lions was Piorkowski with 12 kills, 7 digs, and a single service ace and block assist. Wiley and Pinckney were right behind him with 9 kills each. Wiley also had 2 solo blocks and a block assists, while Pinckney had one of each. Leading in digs was Nick Rusk with 14, he also lead in assists with 36. Jared Gross was right behind him with 13 digs.
Lasell looks forward to their match on the 31st when they host Wentworth for a 7:00pm contest in honor of their 2016 graduating seniors. The Lions return to action on the 31st as well when they travel to Rivier for a 7:00pm match.
Recap Courtesy of Emerson Sports Information