MVB: Lasell sweeps doubleheader with Eastern Nazarene

Quincy, Mass. -  The Lasell University Lasers men's volleyball team won both matches in a doubleheader bout with the Eastern Nazarene College Lions, 3-0 and 3-1, at Lahue Athletic Center.

The Lasers improve to 3-3 on the year. The Lions drop to 5-5 on the year.

Match 1

The Lasers started out putting points on the board early scoring the first four points and 12 of the first 15 points of set one. Four- and three-point spurts towards the end of the set capped off with kills by senior Aaron Waitekus (Norwood, Mass.) and sophomore Sean Delaney (Brockton, Mass.) helped Lasell capture set one.

The second set was closely contested throughout with the biggest lead either team held being five. Key runs spurred by sophomore Jan Baranowski (Wheeling, Ill.) and graduate student Scott Sterenberg (Oceanside, N.Y.) propelled the Lasers to a two-set lead.

Lasell opened up the third set scoring 11 of the first 16 points forcing Eastern Nazarene to call a timeout to regroup. After the timeout the Lasers kept control of the game opening up an eight point on a block by Baranowski before closing out match one on a kill by Waitekus.

Baranowski, Waitekus and sophomore Brenden Joyce (Randolph, Mass.) led the Lasers with eight kills apiece while sophomore Jesus Garcia (Honolulu, Hawaii) had 30 assists to lead the match.

Match 2

Set one was a tightly fought battle between the Lasers and Lions sticking within a couple points of each other most of the way. Three kills down the stretch by junior Brandon Hapgood (Wilbraham, Mass.) pushed Lasell to victory.

Lasell found a rhythm in the second set pulling away early and not looking back. Kills by Delany, Garcia and senior Dillon DeSouza (Enfield, Conn.) gave the Lasers a run late in the set to secure a two-set lead.

 The Lasers began set three much like set two pulling away early and looking in control late. With five points left before winning the match, the Lasers were up by seven, but the Lions fought back. Freshman Alejandro Garcia Fernandez (San Juan, P.R.) willed the Lions back to even at 25 apiece with multiple kills before he sealed the third set with a kill in extra points.

Both teams took turns with the lead going back and forth in a tightly contested fourth set. The set was tied at 20-20 before Lasell scored five of the last seven points spurred on by Joyce and freshman Ryan Fuller (Wayland, Mass.).

Desouza led the Lasers will 11 kills, Fuller had nine kills to go along with 15 digs. Delaney had nine kills while Joyce collected eight kills. Sophomore Charles Lavoie (Honolulu, Hawaii) had 19 digs, senior Cobi Moore (Danville, N.H.) had 10 digs while Garcia had 45 assists. For the Lions Garcia Fernandez led the game with 21 kills.