MVB: Three Lasers Take Home Weekly GNAC Awards
Newton, MA- The Lasers made a strong statement at the start of the 2025 season, sweeping three out of the four major honors in the first weekly Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) report following their impressive 6-1 start to the season. Lasell dominated the competition two tournaments in a row, finishing the SUNY Poly tournament 3-1, followed by a 3-0 sweep at the Battle of the Boardwalk.
Senior Outside Hitter Theo Zaharewicz started his senior campaign strong at the net for No. 19 nationally-ranked Lasell University as the Bethany, Conn. native produced 4.04 kills per set on an efficient .432 attack percentage to lead the Lasers to a 6-1 start in the opening weeks of Jan. 11-Jan.19. Zaharewicz notched 101 total kills across seven matches including 13 (twice) and 19 over three nationally-ranked opponents in Nazareth (no. 17), Misericordia (no. 14), and Hobart (no. 10). This past weekend, he put up 16 kills over receiving votes (RV) Rutgers-Newark, 12 kills against Drew, and 17 against Arcadia. The senior also collected 29 digs and 11 blocks on the defensive side of the ball for the Lasers.
First-year Setter Trystan Maloney was the catalyst to an explosive start for the Lasell offense as he contributed to five of their six wins, dating back from Jan. 11. The Colorado Springs, Colo. native put up 185 assists in 20 sets (9.25 a/s), reaching 30+ assists in five of the six matches. He started his freshman campaign strong with 34, 35, and 33 assists on matches played from Jan. 11- Jan. 12. Maloney followed up this past weekend with 32, 20, and 31 assists in wins over Rutgers-Newark, Drew, and Arcadia. He also collected 26 digs across these six matches for the Lasers as well.
First-year opposite Benjamin Walinjom was a solid producer on both sides of the net in four matches for the Lasers, registering 30 kills and nine total blocks on the week. The North, Quincy, Mass. native collected six kills and two total blocks against Sage to start his freshman season. Walinjom competed at the Battle 4 the Boardwalk tournament and put up nine kills with five total blocks over RV Rutgers-Newark, eight kills over Drew, and nine kills with two total blocks over Arcadia.