Men's Volleyball 2009 Season Outlook

The Lasell College men's volleyball team comes into the 2009 season ranked 4th in the GNAC after coming off a 13-18 overall and 4-7 NECVA New England Division season in 2008. The Lasers have ten veteran athletes returning to the squad this season, who along with three new additions should be extremely competitive in the GNAC Division, and the NECVA conference.

Gary Gay (Belchertown, Mass.) returns for his senior season to the setter position after setting the all-time record for assists in a season (992) and moving to ranked second in all-time career assists at Lasell.  Gay averaged 9.36 assists per set in the 2008 season, as well as 1.25 digs per set.

Fellow senior Joe Lipski (Burlington, Conn.) will also return as the team's libero this year.  Lipski was the Lasers leading defender after finishing 2008 season with 288 dug balls, averaging 2.97 per game, placing him in a three-way tie at 14th in the country in digs per game.  Lipski is second all time in digs at Lasell, with 616 total career digs.

Returning to the Lasers' attack line will be senior outside hitter David Rogers (Belchertown, Mass.), junior outside Andy Cass (Wakefield, Mass.), junior middle Dustin Foster (Ashford, Conn.), sophomore middle Dan Rogers (Belchertown, Mass.), and sophomore right side Matt Roberts (Agawam, Mass.). 

Foster and Cass led the team offensively last season with 238 and 237 kills respectively.  Foster hit a .320 clip and also led the team in blocks with 60 combined solo and assisted blocks.  Cass added 22 sevice aces, 201 digs (1.97 per set), and 19 total blocks for Lasell. 

Dan Rogers picked up 2.09 kills per set for 211 total kills in the 2008 season, good for third on the team, while David Rogers finished with 169 kills and 1.88 per set.  Dan Rogers was also second on the team in blocks, with 36 solo and 4 assisted, averaging .40 blocks per set, while David Rogers collected 131 digs in the season and 24 aces.  Playing opposite, Roberts put down 40 kills on 117 attempts last season.

Outsides Tyler Hammond (Hadley, Mass.), Wes Sackman (Sands Point, NY), and middle hitter Mike Harrington (Billerica, Mass.) are also veterans who will contribute in the 2009 season.  Hammond finished second on the team in digs per game last season, averaging 2.00 per set.  He finished the season with 114 digs, as well as 50 kills, 8 blocks, and 8 aces.  Harrington finished last season with 57 kills and 11 blocks. 

Adding to the Lasers' core this year will be first year setter's Zack Smith (Agawam, Mass.) and Brendan McGourn (Southington, Conn.) and middle Trevor Foster (Ashford, Conn.).  Head Coach Jonah Mytros will be entering his fifth season at the helm for the Lasers, and will be aided this season by Associate Head Coach Tom Olson and Assistant Coach Scott Penna.