Lasell Men’s Volleyball sweeps Eastern Nazarene

NEWTON, Mass. – Sophomore Janci Soto (Lawrence, Mass.) smashed a team-high eight kills with a .778 attack percentage (8-1-9) Tuesday evening to lead Lasell College to a straight-set victory (3-0) over Eastern Nazarene College in non-conference men's volleyball action at the Lasell Athletic Center. The Lasers won by set scores of 25-23, 25-11, and 25-15.

Freshman Brandon Kurina (Marlborough, Mass.) added seven kills and a .429 attack percentage (7-1-14) in the win for Lasell, while classmate Dillon DeSouza (Enfield, Conn.) was good for six winners with no errors (6-0-10) for a .600 percentage. They helped Lasell hit at a season-high .337 attack percentage for the match (47-14-98).

It was a team effort for the Lasers as all 13 players in uniform recorded at least one kill, junior setter Andy Henriquez (Lawrence, Mass.) registered 34 assists, and junior Jordan Aprea (Newington, Conn.) made 11 digs.

Senior Kenny Sorensen (Quincy, Mass.) led all players with 11 kills for the Lions, posting a double-double with 11 digs as well. Freshman Samuel Cueva (Swampscott, Mass.) chipped in with three kills and three blocks.

Eastern Nazarene (8-8) led most of the first set before the Lasers (3-14) pulled it out down the stretch. After an early 4-4 tie, the Lions maintained a 3-4 point advantage until Lasell came back to tie the set at 20-20. ENC took a one-point lead three times, only to have Lasell tie it up, and then a kill by sophomore Scott Sterenberg (Oceanside, N.Y.) and an attack error by the Lions gave the home team the set.

Lasell won the first three points of the second set and never trailed. The Lasers went on a 9-1 spurt midway through the set to open up a 17-6 advantage, and finished off the set with kills by Kurina, Soto and freshman Cobi Moore (Hampstead, N.H.)

The Lasers jumped out to leads of 6-1 and 10-3 in the third set and never looked back. The margin reach double digits at 20-10 before a kill by DeSouza finished off the set and the match.

Lasell is idle for the next 11 days during the school's Spring Break, and will return to the court for a Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) tri-match at home on Saturday, March 17, against Mount Ida College (11:00 a.m.) and Johnson & Wales University (3:00 p.m.) Eastern Nazarene plays again on Thursday, March 15, in a home match against Dean College at 6:00 p.m. 

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