Women's Volleyball Hosts GNAC Tri-Match

Newton, Mass.-  Lasell College hosted a women's volleyball tri-match today with two top Great Northeast Athletic Conference opponents.  Johnson & Wales University swept the tri-match, going home with a 7-1 conference record, while Emmanuel College split on the day, finishing with an 8-1 league slate.  Lasell dropped both matches to the tough conference rivals, ending the day with a 3-4 conference mark.

 Johnson & Wales University swept the tri-match, going home with a 7-1 conference record, while Emmanuel College split on the day, finishing with an 8-1 league slate.  Lasell dropped both matches to the tough conference rivals, ending the day with a 3-4 conference mark.

In the first match of the day, the Lasers were able to take one game from the visiting Wildcats of Johnson & Wales.  Lasell fought hard in a close 26-24 first set, and a 25-23 second set, but was unable to close the gap to steal away with the games.  The third game, however, Lasell was able to run away with a 25-16 victory before the Wildcats came back with a 25-19 final set.

The Lasers had some great performances through the match, including a double-double from setter Meghan Crozier (Ballston Spa, NY) who pushed out 36 assists and added 10 digs for the contest. Middle attacker Danielle Drapeau (Biddeford, ME) secured 15 kills in the contest, with Eileen Barrett (Ludlow, Mass.) and Elizabeth Nichols (Southington, Conn.) dropping in 12 and 11 more each, respectively.

Lauren Short (Scarsdale, NY) earned a team-best 25 digs in the contest, and Melanie Costa (Ludlow, Mass.) was right behind her with 22.   Senior, captain Amanda Major (Southbury, Conn.) picked up 16 more attacked balls for the Lasers' defense.

Johnson & Wales stole off with the second match of the day as well in five sets.  After dropping the first two sets to GNAC previously-undefeated Emmanuel, the Wildcats retaliated with a three game victory to sweep the tri-match for the day.  The Saints won the first two games in close sets, 27-25 and 25-23, but Johnson & Wales came from behind to win 25-16, 25-20, and 15-6.

Emmanuel College bounced back to take match number three from Lasell in three sets.  The Lasers were able to keep it close with scores of 25-14, 25-19, and 25-21, but were unable to take a game from the Saints.

Four Lasers hit double-figures in the digs column.  Major produced a Laser-best of 16 digs in the match, while Barrett also picked up 14.  Costa and Short each added ten a piece.

Drapeau led on offense again this match, blasting eight attacks to the Saints court.  In addition to the kills, Drapeau dominated with three solo and one assisted blocks.

Crozier fed 17 assists in the contest to the attackers, combining with seven digs on the defensive end.

Lasell finished the contest with a 7-19 overall record. 

The Lasers continue with GNAC play on Monday, October 19^th when they will host local rivals Mount Ida College, at 7:00 p.m., in the athletic center.