DALLAS, Pa. – The Lasell University men's volleyball team split their first two matches of the season Friday night in the Cougar Kick-Off Classic at Misericordia University. The Lasers were defeated by St. Joseph's (L.I.) in their first match, 3-0, but bounced back to secure the first win of the season against Randolph-Macon in a five-set thriller. This marked head coach Jeff Vautrin's first win as a collegiate head coach.
St. Joseph's (L.I.) 3, Lasell 0
Senior Scott Sterenberg (Oceanside, N.Y.) led the way for the Lasers with a team-high eight kills and nine digs. Junior Cobi Moore (Danville, N.H.) recorded 10 digs in the loss while freshman Jesus Garcia (Honolulu, Hawaii) controlled the offense with 26 assists in his college debut.
The Lasers started the set off strong with kills from Aaron Waitekus (Norwood, Mass.) and Sterenberg to jump out to a 15-11 lead over the Golden Eagles. St. Joseph's found their rhythm at that point and went on an 8-2 run to gain a 19-17 lead. At the end of the first set, with the scored knotted at 24-24, a pair of Laser errors gave the Golden Eagles the first set victory.
In the second set the Lasers managed to find a lead to start. They held a 16-14 lead in the middle of the set but once again the opposition found a way to fight back. The Golden Eagles scored five of the last six points to win the second set 25-20.
The third and final set was similar to the first set. Both teams traded points until late in the game where at 24-24, St. Joseph's forced a Laser error and produced a kill to finish off the match in extra points 26-24.
Lasell 3, Randolph-Macon 2
Sterenberg proved to be consistent in the Laser's first win of the season with a team-high 13 kills while hitting .353%. Freshman Brenden Joyce (Randolph, Mass.) also added 13 kills and nine digs in the victory. Moore established the defense for the Lasers with 16 digs in the five-set match.
Lee Olenyik (Mechanicsville, Va.) led the Yellow Jackets in kills with 15, and Kolby Gibson (Bumpass, Va.) followed closely behind with 14.
In the third set, the match was tied at 1-1 and the Lasers quickly grabbed at 13-7 lead behind kills from Joyce and freshman Jan Baranowski (Wheeling, Ill.). At 20-18 the Yellow Jackets rattled off seven straight points to take a 2-1 lead in the match.
The Lasers won the fourth set 25-22 and headed into the deciding fifth set. The Lasers notched an 8-3 lead at the switch. At 14-7 Sterenberg found the floor for a kill to give the Lasers their first win of the season.
Lasell will face off Saturday against the host Misericordia University at 11 a.m. and Sage College at 1 p.m. to wrap up the Cougar Kick-Off Classic
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