NEWTON, Mass. (3/23/17) -- The No. 12 Lasell College men's volleyball team upended the only other undefeated team in the Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) Thursday night, taking the first two sets and the deciding fifth from the No. 7 Leopards of Wentworth Institute of Technology in the Athletic Center.
Lasell improved to 19-4 on the season and 4-0 in GNAC play, while Wentworth saw a five-match winning streak come to an end in falling to 18-5 and 6-1 in conference.
Seniors Jeffrey Vautrin (Chicopee, Mass.) led Lasell's balanced offense with 15 kills to go along with three service aces, six digs and three total blocks, while classmate Tristan Davis (Rochester, N.Y.) posted 12. Sophomore Jordan Aprea (Newington, Mass.) hit the floor for 19 digs, and sophomore Andy Henriquez (Lawrence, Mass.) recorded 39 assists.
Junior Sean Mullen (Longwood, Fla.) posted 15 kills for the Leopards, and senior Jake Reed (Arvada, Colo.) added 12. Junior Jon Roat (Macedon, N.Y.) and senior Mike Rogachefsky (Rochester, N.Y.) each posted 11 kills, while junior Collin Ritter (Feeding Hills, Mass.) dished out 45 of the team's 49 assists.
The Lasers were .304 hitters and committed just three errors in the opening set, which featured a pair of long runs that led to victory. Wentworth scored three straight points after opening the match with an attack error, but Lasell posted the next five in a row to take a 6-3 lead. After splitting the next six points, the Lasers went on an 8-1 tear and used five straight kills and a service ace from senior Patrick MacDonald (Floral Park, N.Y.).
Neither side led by more than three points in the second set. After the Lasers recovered from a 14-11 deficit with four of the next five points, the visitors rattled off four in a row to take a 19-15 advantage. Wentworth added the 20th point first, but Vautrin swung through a kill at the end of a 3-1 run to give Lasell a 21-19 lead. Later, freshman Janci Soto (Lawrence, Mass.) and Davis swung through back-to-back kills to end the game in extra points.
Lasell's offensive effort was balanced in the third set as seven of the eight players who saw action recorded at least one kill, including Soto, Davis, Vautrin and sophomore Saunoa Afoa (Las Vegas, Nev.) with three apiece. The Lasers got off to 12-3 start behind a pair of kills from Vautrin during a 5-0 run, but surrendered the next four points.
The teams held each other close into the late stages of the third, and Lasell had a four-point lead as Henriquez set Soto up for a kill, but the Leopards won the set with Reed and junior Ollie Oshman (Pennington, N.J.) posting kills during a closing 6-0 run.
Wentworth turned a deficit at the 15-point mark of the fourth set into a 25-19 victory, thanks in large part to Mullen providing seven of the team's 14 kills.
The Lasers made just one error to 11 kills in the deciding fifth set. After Lasell took a 2-0 lead, the visitors responded with an 8-4 run to take a two-point lead, but Davis brought Lasell within one and Vautrin swing through two of five fifth-set kills in succession to give the Lasers a 9-8 advantage.
A ball handling error set the visitors up for match point, but Afoa notched two of the final three kills to give Lasell its third victory of the season against a nationally-ranked foe.
The Lasers return home to the Athletic Center on Sunday, 26 for a GNAC tri-match with Rivier and Albertus Magnus. First serve against the Raiders is set for 11:00 a.m. The Leopards are back in action on Saturday, taking on host Mount Ida at 10:00 a.m. and Johnson & Wales at noon.
