ORSLEY & McDONAGH POST CAREER-HIGHS IN 3-1 WIN OVER LASELL

THE BASICS 

Score: Lasell College, 1; Emmanuel College, 3 (25-17, 25-22, 22-25, 25-22)
Records: Lasell College  Lasers (7-18, 4-6 GNAC); Emmanuel College Saints (12-13, 6-4 GNAC)
Location: Boston, Mass. – Andy Yosinoff Court
Date: Saturday, March 31, 2018

THE LEAD: Junior opposite hitter Kevin Orsley (San Jose, Calif.) posted a career-high 20 kills while hitting .500 on the match to power the Emmanuel College men's volleyball team past Lasell College, 3-1, in Great Northeast Athletic Conference action Saturday afternoon.

HOW IT HAPPENED 

SET 1

• The Lasers scored the first point of the set on a kill by Aaron Waitekus (Norwood, Mass.) before the Saints took the lead for good on a kill from junior outside hitter Erik English (Simi Valley, Calif.) to take a 3-2 lead.
• Emmanuel built up a four-point cushion behind the service game of sophomore setter Seamus McDonagh (Long Beach, N.Y.) and extended it to 15-9 on a kill by Orsley midway through the frame.
• The Saints led by as many as nine in the action (24-15), coasting to a 25-17 win in the opening set.

SET 2

• Both squads traded points to an 8-8 score before Lasell opened up a 12-8 lead behind the service game of sophomore middle hitter Janci Soto (Lawrence, Mass.).
• Trailing by four, Emmanuel put together a 9-2 run with junior middle Alex Silva (Jamaica Plain, Mass.) leading the charge with five consecutive points on his serve to take a 17-14 lead.
• The Lasers responded, tying the game at 18-all on a kill from Nathan Gallo (North Providence, R.I.) but EC answered with back-to-back kills from sophomore middle John Carroll (Massapequa, N.Y.) and Orsley to take the lead for good en route to a 25-22 win.

SET 3

• Lasell raced out of the gates taking a 5-1 lead and never trailed in the frame.
• Emmanuel tailed by multiple points for the majority of the action before a late run tied the score at 19-19 following a Laser attacking error.
• The visitors regrouped, scoring the next two points on kills by Soto and a rotation error by the Saints which was enough to power them to a 25-22 win to pull the match to 2-1 heading in to the fourth set.

SET 4

• Emmanuel opened the frame with four straight points including three kills from Carrol to take a 4-0 lead to set the tone.
• Lasell matched the run with a 4-0 spurt of its own to tie the score at 4-4.
• The Lasers pushed ahead midway through the set with an 11-8 lead following a Gallo kill but Emmanuel took the lead for good at a 16-15 score on a service ace by McDonagh, pushing to a 25-22 win to take the match 3-1.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS 

• Orsley's 20 kills is two better than his previous career-high of 18 from last season and the junior added 11 digs for a double-double effort.
• English also recording a double-double for Emmanuel with 16 kills and 12 digs.
• McDonagh tied his career high with 50 assists in the win.
• Soto paced the Lasers with a team-best nine kills to go along with six combined blocks.
• Gallo and Conor Leary-Watson (Bethany, Conn.) added eight kills each for Lasell while Andy Henriquez (Lawrence, Mass.) ran a solid offense with 38 helpers while recording a team-high 16 digs.

UP NEXT

• The Saints return to action later this afternoon playing hosting to Regis College at 4:00 PM while the Lasers take on the Pride in the middle game of the GNAC tri-match at 2:30 PM.