Lasers Hold Off Albertus Magnus in Men's Volleyball

Newton, Mass. (4/2/13) – The Lasell College men's volleyball team defeated visiting Albertus Magnus in three sets in Great Northeast Athletic Conference action on Tuesday evening. Lasell earned the victory by scores of 25-19, 25-19, and 30-28. The Lasers improve to 12-11 on the season and 5-5 league play while the Falcons fall to 8-14 overall and 0-12 in conference matches.

Dan Raffol (Natick, Mass.) led the way for Lasell with 11 kills, Alex Mill (Danville, N.H.) added nine kills for the Lasers who had 10 different players register kills in the match. Ryan Jackson (Massilon, Ohio) handed out a match-high 25 assists for the Lasers. Lasell finished the match with a .236 hitting percentage with 36 kills with only 15 attacking errors.

Carlos Torres (Adjuntas, Puerto Rico) posted team-highs in kills with seven, assists with 13 and a match-high in digs with 10 for Albertus Magnus. Chris Pfeffer (Torrington, Conn.) and Glenn Johnson (Newington, Conn.) each notched six kills for the Falcons.

Lasell took a 12-6 lead in the opening set after a service ace by Raffol, but Albertus scored six of the next eight points to trim the Lasers lead to 14-12. The two sides traded points, with the Falcons remaining within striking distance on a Torres kill which made it 19-16. Lasell pulled away scoring six of the final nine points to take the set 25-19 and go on top 1-0.

The two teams were close in the second set early, with Lasell leading 4-3, before the hosts ran off an 11-2 run to take a 15-5 lead halfway through the second set. The Falcons wouldn't go away, rallying to with two points, trailing 20-18 before Lasell put the set away with a 5-1 run to wrap up the second set.

The third set was a back-and-forth affair in which neither team held more than a two point advantage throughout entire set. Albertus led 24-22, but Lasell scored the next three points to take a one point lead. Lasell broke a 28-28 tie with a kill by Drew Caruso (Haverhill, Mass.), and a kill by Zach Pindara (Chelmsford, Mass.) registered a kill to give Lasell the set and match.  

Lasell will be back on the court Wednesday night when they host Rivier University at 7:00 p.m.