Men's Volleyball Earns First-Round Bye after GNAC Tri-Match Clear Out

BOSTON, Mass. (4/4/2015) - The Lasell College team earned the #2 seed in the Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) post-season tournament after sweeping Emerson College and Albertus Magnus College 3-0 on Saturday afternoon. With the wins, the Lasers finish their regular season at 22-8, while the Lions and the Falcons close their season at 13-12 and 3-15, respectively.

Game 1: Lasell vs. Albertus Magnus

The Lasers took the Falcons in straight sets by scores of 25-17, 25-15, and 25-17. Junior Ryan Jackson (Canton, Ohio) paced Lasell with 12 kills on 18 total attempts to earn a .611 kill percentage. Junior Drew Caruso (Haverhill, Mass.) registered eight kills and five service aces, while sophomore Patrick MacDonald (Floral Park, N.Y.) added four kills and five digs. Junior setter Andrew Glenn (Westport, Conn.) also added a game-high 18 assts on the day. 

For the Falcons, Ben Spilka potted a game-high 15 kills, seven digs, and two service aces. Justin Tharau chipped in with a game-high seven digs, additionally setting the ball 12 times. 

Caruso cranked out five consecutive service aces in the second set to give the Lasers a 23-14 lead. The visitors were awarded the final two points via errors on Albertus, heading into the third set with the 2-0 match lead. 

The Lasers used a .414 hitting percentage to take out the Lions 25-17, holding a 13-8 margin in kills. 

Game 2: Lasell vs. Emerson

By set scores of 25-19, 25-18 and 25-22, the Lasers swept Emerson in the final game of the tri-match.

Junior Jeff Vautrin (Chicopee, Mass.) used a .407 kills percentage to hand out a game-high 14 kills on 27 attempts with an additional 12 digs. Senior Dan Raffol (Natick, Mass.) added seven kills and six digs, while Caruso had eight kills in the match.

Connor Burton paced the hosts with nine kills on 17 attemps, earning a .471 kills percentage. Nick Rusk added seven kills, seven digs, and one service ace, while Jackson Wiley potted six kills and three digs. 

The Lasers used a .414 and .435 hitting percentage to cruise past the Lions in the opening sets. The hosts fought back in the third, tying the set on three different occasions before Lasell ran away with the lead. After two Lasell errors and a kill from Rusk, the Lasers were forced to take a time out with a four-point lead over the hosts (19-15).

The Lions cut the deficit to two after a block assist from Austin Pinckney and Nick Rusk a bad set by Raffol, but handed Lasell the final 25-22 victory after a final attack error.

On Thursday, April 8 at 7:00 p.m., the Lasers will host the winner of the Emerson vs. Wentworth first-round match that will be played at Wentworth on Tuesday, April 7 at 7:00 p.m.