LASELL TOPS MEN'S VOLLEYBALL, 3-2

BOSTON, Mass. – The Lasell College men's volleyball team downed Emmanuel College, 3-2 (25-18, 28-26, 19-25, 24-26, 15-11) in Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) action Thursday evening in the Jean Yawkey Center. The Lasers improve to 9-3 overall and 1-1 in the GNAC while the loss drops the Saints to 1-2 and 0-1 in the GNAC.

In the decisive fifth set, a thunderous kill by junior middle hitter Julian Hess (Venice, Calif.) gave EC the early 2-1 lead.   Lasell junior Drew Caruso (Haverhill, Mass.) gave the visitors a 5-4 lead following a well placed tip but senior outside hitter Zach Whitermore (Whitehall, Pa.) evened the score at 5-5 with a kill. Lasell junior setter Andrew Glenn (Westport, Conn.) won a key joust at the net to slide Lasell ahead, 7-6 and they'd take an 8-6 lead into the final-frame side change. Senior opposite Austin Cockerill (Darien, Conn.) got one back to make it 8-7 before an EC hitting error account for a 9-7 score. Another Emmanuel hitting error made it 10-7 before Cockerill's cross court kill pulled the Saints to 10-8. Two straight blocks gave the Lasers all the momentum in the match, a head 12-8. Senior outside hitter Ashanti Jackson's (Sacramento, Calif.) tip made it 12-9 but the Lasers got it right back with a kill by junior outside hitter Jeffrey Vautrin (Chicopee, Mass.). Trailing 14-10,  EC stayed a live with a huge block in the middle by Hess and Whitermore to make it 14-11 but the match ended on yet another Emmanuel error to secure the 3-2 win for the Lasers.

In the opening set, the Lasers jumped out to a 4-0 lead following a kill by sophomore Patrick MacDonald (Floral Park, N.Y.) and would extend the lead to 6-0 after a double-block by MacDonald and sophomore Tristan Davis (Rochester, N.Y.). EC senior middle hitter Wyatt Cooper (Ridgefield, Conn.) got Emmanuel on the board following a timeout with a kill sparking a two-point surge to make it 6-2. Lasell opened up the lead to 11-5 following an Emmanuel hitting error but a poor service game kept the hosts within striking distance, trailing 12-8 after a Laser service error. A back-row kill by junior outside hitter Jeffrey Vautrin (Chicopee, Mass.) extended the visitor lead to 14-9 but Emmanuel rattled off four straight points, capped by an ace from Whitermore to pull within a point at 14-13. After a Laser timeout, Lasell responded with a 4-0 run of its own to increase the lead to 18-13 and force EC to burn a timeout. The Saints could not muster a comeback as the Lasers posted a 25-18 first set win.

Lasell raced ahead to a quick 3-0 lead in the second set and again it was Cooper who got Emmanuel in the scoring column with a kill to make it 3-1. The squads continued to trade points and a kill by Whitermore made it 9-7, Lasell. An ace by senior outside hitter Dan Raffol (Natick, Mass.) bumped the lead to 13-9. The Saints inched closer as a kill by senior setting Sean Baxley (Saint James, N.Y.) made it 16-14. A block by Cooper and Cockerill pulled Emmanuel to within a point at 18-17 and after trading points, senior Cody Diehl (Derry, N.H.) tied the score at 19-all with an ace. The Saints continued to push and another block by Cockerill gave Emmanuel its first lead of the night at 20-19. Another Diehl ace added to the lead at 21-19 before Lasell converted back-to-back kills to even the score at 21-21. EC was whistled for too many touches, handing the lead back to Lasell at 22-21 but senior outside hitter Ashanti Jackson (Sacramento, Calif.) slammed a cross court kill to make it 22-22. The teams traded points to make it 23-all before a communication error on a pass by the Saints gifted a 24-23 lead to the visitors. Whitermore made sure to extend the frame with a kill to make it 24-24. Vautrin answered with a back-row kill to make it set point at 25-24 but the Lasers gave it right back with a service error to lock the score at 25 a piece. Raffol and Whitermore traded kills to keep it tied at 26-26 but a kill by MacDonald followed by a block by Vautrin lifted the Lasers to a 28-26 win.

Following a ball handling error, Emmanuel found itself in a similar position in the third set trailing early on by a 6-3 score. Back-to-back kills by Jackson and Hess, a Lasell error followed by another Jackson kill gave Emmanuel a brief 8-7 lead before Lasell regained the lead with three straight points to go ahead 10-8. A Cooper kill followed by a Whitermore ace changed the momentum in favor of the Saints, lifting EC on top 14-12 but Lasell responded to tie the score at 14-all with a kill from sophomore middle Tristan Davis (Rochester, N.Y.). The set of mini-runs continued with Emmanuel reeling off the next three points, capped by a block by Hess to pull ahead 17-14. Out of a Lasell timeout, junior libero Kevin Gallegos (Los Angelos, Calif.) served up an ace to extend the lead to 18-14. A MacDonald kill pulled Lasell to within three at 19-16 before Jackson tooled a near-side block for a kill to make it 20-16. Emmanuel held on for the 25-19 win to extend the match.

For the first time all evening, Emmanuel jumped out to an early set lead in the fourth, ahead 4-2 after a Laser hitting miscue. Jackson made it 7-4 with a kill but an ace by Caruso made it a one-point deficit at 8-7. Back-to-back hitting errors by the Lasers increased the host's lead to 13-9 but Emmanuel struggled later in the set, giving back a point on the service game to account for a 16-14 score. The Lasers went through their own service spell, giving EC a 19-16 cushion with a deep serve out of bounds. Three straight points by Lasell tied the match at 19-19 forcing Emmanuel to burn a timeout. Davis would win a joust at the net with Cooper to give Lasell its first lead of the set at 20-19 and another Emmanuel error made it 21-19. Out of another EC timeout, a block by Raffol bumped the lead to 22-19 before Whitermore got one back with a kill to cut the margin to two at 22-20. Two straight Lasell hitting errors evened the set at 22-22 and the Saints regained the lead at 23-22 on a block by Cockerill and Cooper. A kill by Jackson made it set point at 24-23 but the Lasers continued to fight as Vautrin evened the score at 24-24. Another visitor service error gave the Saints its second set point at 25-24 and this time they would capitalize to earn the 26-24 win.

Raffol led the way for Lasell with 14 kills while Vautrin added 13. Also in double-figures was MacDonald with 11 kills. Gleen dished out 47 assists in the win.

Whitermore and Jackson ended the night with a match-high 15 kills while Baxley added 48 assists.

Emmanuel is back in action on Wednesday, February 18 when they head to Nashua, N.H. to face Rivier University in a rematch of the 2014 GNAC Championship match at 7:00 PM. Lasell returns to the court one week from tonight when they head to neighboring Mount Ida College for a GNAC tilt scheduled for 6:00 PM.