Men's Volleyball Drops GNAC Battle to Emmanuel 3-2

NEWTON, Mass. (3/31/15) – The Lasell College men's volleyball team fell to Emmanuel College 3-2 in a Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) battle on Tuesday evening in the Athletic Center. The win drops the Lasers to 19-8 overall and 7-4 in conference play, while the Saints rise to 8-10 on the year and even out in the GNAC at 6-6.

Junior Jeff Vautrin (Chicopee, Mass.) paced the Lasers with a combined 14 kills and seven digs in five sets played. Junior Drew Caruso (Haverhill, Mass.) followed with nine kills on 15 attack attempts, earning a .467 hitting percentage on the night. Senior Dan Raffol (Natick, Mass.) also chipped in with eight kills and ten digs for the hosts.

Senior Ashanti Jackson (Sacramento, Calif.), who registered a game-high 20 kills and seven digs, led the Saints with 21 points on the evening.  Junior Barrett Wingard (York, Pa.) had 12 kills in the match while junior Jullian Hess (Santa Monica, Calif.) contributed with 10 kills.

Lasell set the pace in the first set with a team-high .393 hitting percentage on 13 kills. After an attack error on the visitors to give the hosts the double-up advantage 10-5, Lasell held onto the lead for the remainder of the set. Three straight errors on the Saints forced the visitors to take a timeout, but were then shut down with final kills from Caruso and sophomore Patrick MacDonald (Floral Park, N.Y.) to take the set 25-18.

The Saints were quick to respond in the second set, taking the lead in the opening plays. With junior Garrett McGarry (Chicago, Ill.) on the serve, Emmanuel went on a four-point run on the hosts, courtesy of a service ace and three Lasell errors. MacDonald and sophomore Tristan Davis (Rochester, N.Y.) jumped up for a block to make cut the score 9-5, but the Saints never looked back to claim an eventual 24-19 victory.

In the third set, both teams traded points until junior Andrew Glenn (Westport, Conn.) spiked the ball over the net to cushion the Lasers' lead 19-13. Vautrin took the final plays of the set, one kill and one service ace, to claim the set 25-19 heading into the fourth set.

The Saints were relentless in set four, establishing an early 10-8 lead after a Wingard kill. McGarry held serve for 10 straight points, where a kill from junior Ryan Jackson (Canton, Ohio) stopped the Saints' at 23-11. Senior Sean Baxley (Saint James, N.Y.) was the deciding factor for the visitors as he potted a final kill to force the GNAC match into a fifth deciding set.

Emmanuel went on an early 7-2 points on the hosts in the final set, with Baxley on the serve for five consecutive points. Davis, Raffol, and Glenn came up big for the Lasers with a block on Ashanti Jackson's attack attempt to make the score 12-8, but Emmanuel fired back with the 4-2 run to secure the 15-9 set victory and the 3-2 match win.

The Saints return to action on Wednesday, April 1 as they welcome No. 6 Springfield College at 7:00 p.m., while the Lasers hosts Emerson College on Thursday, April 2 for their Senior Day with first-serve slated for 7:00 p.m.