MVB: Lasers split first two matches of Golden Flyer Invitational; Joyce totals career high kills

ROCHESTER, N.Y. – The Lasell University men's volleyball team split the first two matches of the Golden Flyer Invitational Friday afternoon. The Lasers dropped a five-set match against Geneva College and swept Medaille College, 3-0.

The Lasers improve to 4-6 on the season and will play two matches to close out the tournament on Saturday at 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. 

Geneva 3, Lasell 0

Freshman Brenden Joyce (Randolph, Mass.) erupted for a career-high 27 kills with a .377 hitting percentage and seven digs. Freshman Jesus Garcia (Honolulu, Hawaii) dished out 58 assists in the five-set loss. Junior Cobi Moore (Danville, N.H.) and freshman Charles Lavoie (Honolulu, Hawaii) led the defense with 17 and 12 digs, respectively.

Geneva took the first set by a set score of 25-20 with a kill from junior Anthony Baronio (Ambridge, Pa.). The Lasers rallied back to take the second set in extra points and came out on top, 30-28.

The Lasers settled in for the third set and closed out the set with a three-point run at 22-21 to take a 2-1 lead in the match.

Geneva fought back in the fourth set to even the match at 2-2 going into the fifth and final set.

In the final set to 15, Geneva gained an early lead at the switch (8-6) and didn't slow down there. They closed out the match on a 7-2 run to win 15-8. 

Lasell 3, Medaille 0

Joyce and senior Scott Sterenberg (Oceanside, N.Y.) led the Lasers offense in the 3-0 sweep over Medaille. Sterenberg finished with nine kills while Joyce had a team-high 11 kills.

The Lasers took an early lead in the first set with Joyce behind the service line at 8-4. Medaille countered with a run of their own to take a 14-11 lead. Late in the first set the game was knotted at 22-22 before the Lasers managed to force a couple of errors to take the first set 25-23.

Lasell dominated the second set holding the opponent to just 17 points in the set to take a 2-0 lead in the match.

In the third set, the Lasers trailed early to find themselves down 13-10. Kills from Joyce and freshman Jan Baranowski (Wheeling, Ill.) gave Lasell a lead late in the final set. Tied at 22-22, the Lasers earned four straight points to close out the set 25-22 to take the match.

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