No. 6 Rivier Tops Lasell Men's Volleyball

NEWTON, MA-- The Lasell College men’s volleyball team was defeated in three sets by no. 6 (as of the March 2nd AVCA poll) Rivier College in Great Northeast Athletic Conference competition on Tuesday night.   The top ranked Raiders are now 23-6 overall this season, and 10-1 in the GNAC, while the Lasers have a 16-9 record, and a 7-4 GNAC slate.

Jarred Andreozzi (Barrington, RI) led all hitters with 14 kills for the Raiders.  Taylor Lindner (Chesire, CT) and Matt Ferreira (N. Providence, RI) each tallied ten more points from their attacks apiece and Alex Xenidis (Shelton, CT) chipped in with seven kills, hitting a .636 clip in the match.

Rivier’s setter Zach Hansen (Shelton, CT) produced 36 assists in the contest as well as five service aces and six digs and libero Kyle O’Neill (Long Beach, NY) picked up a game-high nine digs in the match.

For Lasell, Brendan McGourn (Southington, CT) dished out 30 assists, grabbed eight digs and added three blocks.  Freshman outside hitter Spencer Parker (Newington, CT) put down a team-best eight kills and sophomore Micah Aiu (Honolulu, HI) was close behind with seven tallies.  Also putting in a top performance for the Lasers was freshman defensive specialist Max Vaughan (Wethersfield, CT) who collected eight digs. 

Lasell came out ahead 2-1 early in the first set after Dan Rogers (Belchertown, MA) found a hole in the middle of the Raiders defense to put the Lasers on top.  An Andreozzi kill knotted the score at 2-all and sent Rivier on an 8-2 run, leading up to a 9-4 advantage.  Lasell rallied to shorten the distance between them to one point (11-10) capped with a kill by Parker from the outside to the opposite short corner.  The visitors then rushed for another 6-1 streak, giving them a 17-11 edge, and though Lasell came back within three points (21-18) the Raiders kept their distance, taking set one, 30-22.

Parker gave Lasell the opening point of the second set by tipping over the Raiders outside block.  The game stayed tight early on with five ties and three lead changes before either team hit double-figures.  The Raiders grabbed hold of a 10-9 lead when Andreozzi attacked an overpass off of a Laser serve receive.  Ultimately, Rivier held onto that advantage for the duration of the set, which was finished by a solo block in the middle by Xenidis, 30-22.

The Lasers fell behind 10-3 in the third set before regrouping for a 12-5 run to bring the score to within one point, 16-15.  Rivier then turned the tables on Lasell,  exploding for a 12-3 streak of their own to take a ten point lead (28-18).  Kills by Parker, Aiu, and Will Leclerc (Fairfield, CT), plus three team blocks by the same combination of players allowed the Lasers to hold off match point, however, a final kill by Lindner ended the match, 30-26.

Lasell has a week’s rest before their next match against Mount Ida College on Tuesday, March 23rd, at 7:00 p.m.