MVB: Lasers Advance to GNAC Championship Game

Newton, MA - The Lasell Lasers Men's Volleyball team defeated the Rivier Raiders in a GNAC semifinal match on Thursday night by a final score of 25-22, 25-15, 24-26, 25-16. The win advances the Lasers to the conference championship match. The Lasers are now 20-12 on the season, while the Raiders end their season at 20-11.

In a matchup between two teams with NCAA Tournament aspirations, the Raiders got out to the early lead at 14-11. But a 3-0 run by the Lasers tied things up. The Raiders grabbed the lead again at 21-20, but another timely 3-0 run put the Lasers up 23-21. A kill by Theo Zaharewicz and a Raiders error would give the Lasers the first set by a final score of 25-22.

Set two was another close set to start, and was tied up at seven. The Lasers then used four different 2-1 mini runs to grab a 19-14 lead. They went on a big 5-0 run to take control and finished the set off with a Brenden Joyce kill, taking it 25-15.

Set three proved to be the closest, as neither team ever led by more than two. A 3-0 run by the Lasers gave them an 18-17 lead late, but the Raiders would end up taking set three 26-24.

Set four was another close set at the beginning, but a couple of 4-0 runs were the difference, as the Lasers took set four 25-16, punching their ticket to the GNAC Championship game on Saturday.

It was a two headed attack for the Lasers, as Jordan Shinaut (18) and Brenden Joyce (16) combined for 34 of the team's 46 kills. Of those 46 kills, Jesus Garcia set the table on 40 of them. Garcia also led the team with 11 digs, while Alex Weinhaus and Shinaut were behind him with nine each. Joyce also had eight digs.

Up Next - The Lasers will go to Wentworth to take on the Leopards on Saturday, April 15th at 2pm for the GNAC Championship. The two teams split their two meetings in the regular season, with the road team taking each match.