Men’s Volleyball Picks Up 3-1 Decision at Johnson & Wales

PROVIDENCE, R.I. - Sophomore Micah Aiu (Honolulu, HI) drilled home 15 kills, adding seven digs and four blocks for the Lasell College men's volleyball team, en route to a 3-1 decision over Johnson & Wales University in Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) action on Wednesday night.  The Lasers now boast a 12-5 record overall and a 7-2 slate in the GNAC.

Lasell went ahead 3-0 in the opening set with kills by Dan Rogers (Belchertown, MA) and Aiu.  After a slew of Laser errors allowed the Wildcats to take their first lead (8-5), Lasell got back on track when Alex Mill (Danville, NH) attacked off the hands of a Wildcat blocker to secure a side-out for the Lasers. Mills then served four straight points to give Lasell an 11-10 lead. 

The Lasers pulled away slowly but surely and did not relinquish the lead from that point forward. Although Johnson & Wales' Peter Yanikiev (Varna, Bulgaria) and Eric Minnich (Concord, CA) gave the Wildcats hope for a comeback with a collection of kills for the hosts, Lasell took control of a 30-24 first set.

Set two was similar as the Lasers and the Wildcats knotted the score three times before either team hit double-figures in points.  Lasell finally rallied for an 11-4 run which brought them ahead 17-13, capped by Brendan McGourn (Southington, CT) slamming down a right side attack.

The closest the Wildcats would get to the Lasers at this point was a three-point spread (23-20) but the narrow cushion was more than enough to give Lasell the 30-25 victory in set two.

A 3-0 start to set three put Lasell on the right track from the get-go, however, the Wildcats inched their way to a 5-5 tie, and took over the lead shortly after on an attack error by Lasell.  The Lasers played catch-up for the rest of the contest before equalizing the score at 21-all on a Mike Harrington (Billerica, MA) middle attack.  The visitors would tie the score twice more, remaining neck-in-neck with the Wildcats before surrendering to a 30-26 loss in the third.

With a 2-1 set advantage heading into the fourth game, the Lasers wasted no time jumping out ahead, 14-6.  Lasell extended their lead to double-digits (17-7) on a wildcat service error, and capped the game with a double-block by Harrington and Chris Burns (Chelmsford, MA).

Yanakiev led the way for Johnson & Wales with 14 kills and six digs while Minnich added 11 kills for the Wildcats. Sophomore Robert Slough (Buffalo, N.Y.) had 33 set assists and five digs.

McGourn averaged 12 assists per set for Lasell, totaling 48 helpers in the match.  In addition, McGourn matched eight kills with eight digs, hitting 57.1% with no errors, plus two service aces and two blocks.  Rogers also swung well for Lasell, hitting a .500 clip and dropping in seven kills.  Harrington also provided the victors with seven kills and three blocks.

The Lasers will return to action on Friday, February 26^th at nonconference and non-divisional rivals University of New Haven, at 7:00 p.m.