Lasers Top Lions in GNAC Men’s Volleyball Action

Newton, MA- The Lasell College Lasers swiftly overtook the Lions of Emerson College, 3-0, to improve their overall record to 10-5, and their Great Northeast Athletic Conference slate to 5-2.  Emerson's season record falls to 1-7 after the defeat, and 0-5 in the league.

Lasell was in control from the opening serve, after Brendan McGourn (Southington, CT) set up Micah Aiu (Honolulu, HI) to smash an attack down into the center of the Lions court.  The hosts' opening run quickly gave them a double-figure advantage, at 19-9.   The Lasers distanced themselves even further from the visitors (25-14) after additional kills by McGourn and Aiu.  Consecutive side-out kills by Garrett Mercer (South Kingston, RI) and Frank O'Sullivan (Ottawa, Ontario) closed the Lions gap to ten points, 26-16, but Lasell only allowed the Lions one more point as they closed in on game point.  Harry Strobel (Westport, CT) served Lasell's thirtieth point, which Mike Harrington (Billerica, MA) hammered down on a middle hit to take the first set, 30-17.

Andy Cass (Wakefield, RI) put Lasell up 1-0 on the first possession of the second game with a line shot from the outside.  The Lions came back from a 3-1 deficit to tie the game at three-all after kills by Mercer and O'Sullivan, however, Lasell took back control of the scoreboard with a 3-0 run.  A solo block by Harrington in the middle gave Lasell a 8-5 edge and ignited the Lasers to push for a 13-7 lead. Despite the considerable hole the Lions found themselves in,  Emerson launched an 8-4 comeback run of to come within two points, 17-15.

After another Laser side-out, a double-block by Emerson's Bay Scoggin (Dallas, TX) and Jeff Ackerstien (Newton, MA) kept Emerson in the game, 18-16. Lasell struck back with a six point streak to lead 24-16 before a O'Sullivan bomb gave Emerson a chance for a second comeback, but Lasell rallied for the final points and stole away with a 30-21 set two victory.

The Lasers took an immediate 6-1 advantage in the third set.  Emerson came back to tie the score at 13-all, however, Lasell caught fire for another 7-1 stretch to take a 21-14 lead.  After a few rotations, the Lasers leapt to a nine point edge, 26-17, after a ball handling error by the Lions.  Alex Mill (Danville, NH) slammed down the final point of the game as Lasell took set three 30-23.  

O'Sullivan led all attackers with a match-high nine kills and Mercer was close behind with seven kills for the Lions.  Steve Selnick (Cheshire, CT) distributed 15 assists for Emerson, while also picking up seven digs.   Evan Ong (Pasadena, CA) recorded a match-high 12 digs as the Lion's libero.

For the victors, Matt Roberts (Agawam, MA) put down eight kills on 13 attempts for a 46.2% individual attack percentage.  Strobel slammed down seven kills and picked up five digs and Max Vaughan (Wethersfield, CT) contributed a double-double with a team-best 19 assists and 11 digs.

The Lasers play again on Saturday, February 20th at 1:00 p.m. at Albertus Magnus College.