Men's Volleyball Drops Five-Set Thriller to JWU

NEWTON, Mass. (2/21/14) – The Lasell College men's volleyball team suffered a 3-2 Great Northeast Athletic Conference defeat at the hands of Johnson and Wales University on Friday evening. Lasell won the first set 29-27 before JWU evened the match with a 27-25 win in the second set. Lasell went back in front on the strength of a 25-21 win in the third set before the visitors drew level again by taking the fourth set 25-22 and then claimed the fifth set 15-13 to win the match. The Lasers dropped to 6-3 on the year and 1-1 in league play while the Wildcats improved to 7-5 on the season and 1-1 in conference matches.

Dan Raffol (Natick, Mass.) paced Lasell with a season-high 21 kills, while Jeff Vautrin (Chicopee, Mass.) and Drew Caruso (Haverhill, Mass.) chipped in with 15 and 13 kills respectively. Matt Dugan (New Lenox, Ill.) posted a match-high 20 digs in the loss, Ryan Jackson (Massillon, Ohio) added 13 digs and eight kills, as Vautrin and Raffol finished with 13 and 12 kills. Andrew Glenn (Westport, Conn.) orchestrated the Lasers offense with a season-high 53 assists in the match.

Shawn Kennedy (West Barnstable, Mass.) notched a match-high 26 kills and a team-high 12 digs for Johnson and Wales who also got 13 kills from Kyle Eva (Charlestown, R.I.) and 11 kills from Ryan Kennedy (West Barnstable, Mass.).  J.J. Bessette (Coventry, R.I.) dished out a team-high 53 assists while adding eight digs in the victory.

The opening set was a precursor of things to come as the set was tied 11 times with the last being 19-19 and neither team taking a lead of more than three points. Lasell broke the tie on a kill by Raffol and then went in front on when Caruso and Jackson combined for a double block to go up 21-19. Four kills from JWU's Shawn Kennedy sandwiched a Vautrin kill for Lasell that gave the visitors a 24-23 lead and left Lasell facing set point. Lasell fought off another set point at 25-25, tying the set again at 25-25 before going in front 26-25 on the eighth kill from Raffol. JWU fought off back-to-back set points from the Lasers before Lasell scored two straight to win 29-27.

The second set followed the pattern from the opening set, as the two teams traded points resulting in 11 ties through the first 22 points of the set, leaving the set tied at 11-11. The Lasers scored five of the next six points to take a 16-12 lead. The teams exchanged points leaving Lasell on to 21-17 and looking to go ahead 2-0 in the match. The Wildcats wouldn't give in, notching four straight points, the last two on kills from Shawn Kennedy to tie the set at 21-21. Lasell broke the tie on four separate occasions, but each time JWU evened the score leaving the set tied at 25-25. A solo block by JWU's Kyle MacKnight (Northport, N.Y.) gave JWU a 26-25 lead and a service ace from Ryan Kennedy gave JWU the second set win.

Lasell tied the third set at 6-6 on a Vautrin kill, then used consecutive kills from Raffol to take an 8-6 lead. The Lasers never conceded the lead, letting JWU within one on a couple of occasions but ultimately holding on for the 25-21 win to go in front 2-1.

The fourth set went back to the nip-and-tuck pattern of the first two sets, seeing the two sides tied on 14 occasions on their way to a 19-19 deadlock. Three straight attacking errors, two of which were caused by JWU blocks helped the Wildcats to take a 22-19 lead. Lasell cut the lead to 22-21 but were unable to climb all the way back, falling 25-22 leaving the match tied at two sets each.

Johnson and Wales rode a pair of kills from Dan Struebing (Coventry, R.I.) to a 5-1 lead through the first six points of the fifth set. Lasell battled back, tying the match at 7-7 with a run including two kills from Jackson. Lasell took an 11-10 lead as the Lasers appeared to be poised to grab the five-set victory. Johnson and Wales used a pair of kills from Shawn Kennedy to take a 12-11 lead and took advantage of a pair of Lasell attacking errors to go in front 14-11. Lasell's Drew Caruso recorded two straight kills to help Lasell draw within one at 14-13 but a Lasers error gave Johnson and Wales the match-winning point.

Lasell will travel to Wentworth for a 7:00 p.m. GNAC match on Wednesday February 26^th while JWU will return to the court on Monday February 24^th when they visit Mount Ida in search of their second straight GNAC victory.