Lasell Wins Five-Set Thriller over Emerson

Newton, MA – The Lasell College men's volleyball team picked up a crucial GNAC conference victory over Emerson College winning in five sets, 17-25, 25-23, 22-25, 25-16 and 17-15. The Lasers were fighting from behind most of the night, but managed to comeback from a 1-0 and 2-1 deficit to pick up their third conference win of the year.

Dan Raffol (Natick, MA) led four Lasers in kills, tallying 18 to go with 17 digs, while Tim Anderson (Danville, NH) added 15 kills, Abdulrehman Khan (Karachi, Pakistan) finished with 12 kills and Matt Dionne (Danville, NH) added 11 kills. Matt Dugan (New Lenox, IL) directed the potent Lasell attack, handing out 52 assists and orchestrating the Lasers most effective offensive performance of the season.

Connor Burton posted a team high 18 kills for Emerson, and was joined in double digits by Nadav Swarttz with 17 kills and Eric Doherty with 12 kills. Libero Justin Chun keyed the Lions defensive effort with a team high 13 digs, and Stephen Selnick and Eric Doherty contributed 11 digs each.

Emerson fell to 7-9 overall and 2-5 in the GNAC with the loss, while Lasell improved to 9-11 on the year and 3-6 in conference play. Lasell and Emerson have played a pair of five set matches this year, as the Lasers avenged a 3-2 defeat at the hands of the Lions when the two teams met in February.

The Lions controlled most of the action in the first set, running out to a 12-3 lead early and cruising to a 25-17 win. The second set was a much closer affair that featured several ties and lead changes with Emerson holding a narrow edge most of the way. Lasell tied the set at 22-22 on a kill by Dan Raffol, and then picked up the win on the strength of three straight kills by Abdulrehman Khan to even the match at 1-1.

The host Lasers ran out to a 14-9 lead in the third set, only to see Emerson storm back into the set using a 6-1 run to tie the score at 15-15. The squads traded points the rest of the way with the visitors picking up a narrow 25-22 victory to go up 2-1 in the match. The fourth set was tied at 5-5 before the Lasers found another gear and cruised to a 25-16 win to even the match at 2-2 and set the stage for a dramatic conclusion to the night.

Lasell opened the fifth set by taking a 4-1 lead, which was ultimately the biggest advantage for either team the entire set, only to see Emerson come right back and tie the score at 8-8. The two teams traded points over the next several plays, ultimately ending up tied at 13-13. The Lions gave themselves an opportunity at match point when they went ahead 14-13 on a kill by Nadav Swarttz, and Lasell fought off a pair of match points to again even the score at 15-15. The Lasers pulled ahead 16-15 on a block by Vicenty Ithier (Newington, CT) and Abdulrehman Khan and then finished off the hard fought victory when Khan hammered home match point.