Men’s Volleyball Extends Win Streak to Three with 3-0 Victory over Wildcats

NEWTON, Mass. (2/21/15) The Lasell College men's volleyball team won their third straight Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) match Saturday afternoon 3-0 against Johnson and Wales University. The Lasers jump to 11-3 overall and 3-1 in the GNAC, while the Wildcats drop to 12-3 overall, and suffer their first conference loss at 2-1.

Junior Jeff Vautrin (Chicopee, Mass.) dominated the court with 10 kills and five digs, while senior Dan Raffol (Natick, Mass.) had nine kills and nine digs. Sophomore Patrick MacDonald (Floral Park, N.Y.) also chipped in with eight kills and two digs.

For the visitors, junior Ryan Kennedy (West Barnstable, Mass.) had five kills and a single dig, while junior Kyle Eva (Charlestown, R.I.) and senior Chris Espinola (Derry, N.H.) each had four kills apiece.

Lasell set the pace in the first set, scoring the first 10 of 14 points. A pair of errors set the Lasers back two points, but Vautrin and Raffol rallied to bring the hosts' lead to double digits at 20-10. After a Johnson and Wales timeout, senior Don Dias (Scituate, R.I.) netted a point for the visitors, however, this is as close as they would get before Lasell closed out the game 25-12.

The hosts controlled the second set as well, jumping to an early 10-3 lead. Eva and Espinola teamed up for the Wildcats to chip away at the score with the help of a few errors from Lasell. Senior J. J. Bessette (Coventry, R.I.) put a point on the board for the Wildcats to trail by six points (23-17), however, Lasers' junior Drew Caruso (Haverhill, Mass.) put the game away with the final kills of the set, ending at 25-18.

The third set panned out differently than the previous two, each team alternating points in the opening plays. With Vautrin on the serve, the Lasers began to break free from the Blue and Yellow, scoring four points to the visitors' single point (8-4). Sophomore Tristan Davis (Rochester, N.Y.) stepped up to the service line, where an ace and a Vautrin kill slid the Lasers ahead 14-9. Junior Andrew Glenn (Westport, Conn.) served on three straight points for Lasell, boosting the lead to 23-14. A kill from junior Ryan Jackson (Canton, Ohio) put the hosts at 24, where they took the 3-0 match victory following an attack error from the visitors.

Glenn finished the contest with 33 set assists for the Lasers, while Bessette dished out 17 assists for the Wildcats.

Both teams resume play on Monday, February 23. Lasell will travel to Regis College for a 6:00 p.m. start, while Johnson and Wales takes on Emmanuel College at 7:00 p.m. in a GNAC matchup.