MVB: Lasers drop both matches in non-conference tri-match

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. – The Lasell University men's volleyball team dropped both matches on Saturday afternoon versus SUNY Polytechnic Institute and the host Springfield College who entered the match ranked #2 in the Division III AVCA Coaches weekly national poll.

The Lasers drop to 3-5 overall and look to bounce back next weekend February 7 & 8 with four matches in Rochester, N.Y. at the Nazareth tournament.

SUNY Poly 3, Lasell 0

Freshman Brenden Joyce (Randolph, Mass.) totaled 12 kills while sophomore Brandon Hapgood (Wilbraham, Mass.) followed closely behind with nine kills. Freshman Jesus Garcia (Honolulu, Hawaii) recorded 34 assists to go along with 12 digs and junior Cobi Moore (Danville, N.H.) had a team-high 19 digs in the loss.

The Lasers trailed by one at 21-20 in the first set when the Wildcats went on a four-point unanswered run to end the set 25-20.

In the lone set that the Lasers won, the team dominated early in the set with kills from Hapgood and junior Dillon DeSouza (Enfield, Conn.). Lasell grabbed a 21-12 lead just before the Wildcats put together a seven-point run to make things interesting in the second set. Now with a two-point advantage at 21-19, the Lasers managed to side out and find a second set victory capped off with a service ace from Joyce.

The Wildcats took the third and fourth sets 25-19 and 25-22 to win the match 3-1.

Springfield 3, Lasell 0

Freshman Jan Baranowski (Wheeling, Ill.) had a solid match in the middle for the Lasers despite the loss. He ended with six kills with a .308 hitting percentage against the #2 ranked team in Division III. Joyce found the floor for nine kills of his own in the loss.

Sophomore Brennen Brandow (Manorville, N.Y.) dominated for the Pride. Brandow earned a match-high 16 kills and five digs in the win.

The Lasers found themselves down early in the first set after a couple of attacking errors. Springfield capitalized by taking a 19-8 lead over the visitors. The Pride continued to apply pressure and rounded out the first set 25-12.

The second set was close midway through, the Lasers had a lead at 14-13 before Brandow manufactured a five-point run from the service line to earn a 21-14 lead. Lasell would go on to lose the set 25-19.

In the third set, the visiting Lasers only trailed by two at 16-14 after a service ace from freshman Charles Lavoie (Honolulu, Hawaii). The Pride closed the set on a 9-3 run to take the match 3-0.

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