Lasell Handles Women's Volleyball in Straight Sets

NEWTON, Mass. – Freshman Mckenna McCool (Loomis, Calif.) smashed a match-high 15 kills and four service aces Friday evening to lead the Lasell University women's volleyball team to a 3-0 sweep of Emmanuel College in a Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) match at the Lasell Athletic Center.

Lasell won by set scores of 25-15, 25-20 and 26-16. The Lasers won for the second night in a row, improving to 15-11 overall and 6-5 in conference play, while Emmanuel is now 8-17 overall and 3-8 in GNAC matches. The win for Lasell clinches a berth in the 2021 GNAC postseason while also eliminating EC from a chance to compete in next week's GNAC tournament.

Freshman Tori Scambray (Brea, Calif.) added six winners for the Lasers on a .429 attack percentage (6-0-14) and senior Meg Roberts (Newington, Conn.) and freshman Juliana Medini (Roxbury, N.J.) chipped in with five kills apiece as Lasell posted a team .236 attack percentage, sixth highest this season. Senior Jess Langan (Burnt Hills, N.Y.) ran the offense to the tune of 26 assists.

Medini led the defense with seven blocks, while freshman Hope McFall (Bellingham, Wash.) and Scambray made 14 and 12 digs, respectively.

Junior Isabella Miller (Blackstone, Mass.) topped the visitors with five kills, and sophomore Sasha Hyacinthe (Stoughton, Mass.) added four. Junior Tatiana Correia (Peabody, Mass.) made a team-high 11 digs, and Junior Rachel Coleman (Peabody, Mass.) finished with 17 assists.

Emmanuel came out strong in the first set and pulled to a 9-4 lead, but Lasell used five straight points, including a pair of aces by Scambray, to even the score. After the Saints went ahead 11-9, Lasell rattled off 12 unanswered points to take control with a 22-11 advantage. McFall had three aces in the Laser rally and McCool and Medini had two kills apiece. Two more kills by Medini led to Lasell closing out the set.

Lasell led wire to wire in the second set after taking a 4-0 lead. The Saints kept the score within 4-5 points but couldn't even the score, and Lasell finished with a 25-20 decision in the set.

The Lasers used a five-point run early in the third set to take the lead for good on the strength of kills by Roberts and McCool and a pair of McCool aces. Emmanuel stayed within 3-5 points until Lasell ran off the final six points of the match, capped by a pair of McCool aces and a kill by Roberts.

Both teams wind up the regular season on Saturday with GNAC tri-matches as the Lasers face Rivier University (11 a.m.) and Dean College (1 p.m.) Saturday in Nashua, N.H. and Emmanuel returns home to host Albertus Magnus College (9 a.m.) and Colby-Sawyer College (11 a.m.). 

*Release courtesy of Lasell University Athletic Communications