Lasers Weigh the Anchorwomen Down with a 3-0 Sweep

Newton, MA— The Lasell women's volleyball team carved out their second straight victory in a 3-0 sweep of the Anchorwomen of Rhode Island College on Tuesday night.  Lasell defeated the non-conference regional contenders by scores of 25-14, 25-23, and 25-19.  The hosts improve their overall record to 3-5 and the visitors return to Rhode Island with a 6-7 record after the defeat. 

After a slow start which kept the Anchorwomen within just a few points of the Lasers, the hosts went on two separate 6-1 runs giving them an 18-9 lead.  Rhode Island's Tess Heidel (Warwick, RI) helped the Anchorwomen stay alive with five kills in the set, but the Lasers were able to maintain a decided advantage win the first set, 25-14.

Danielle Drapeau (Biddeford, ME) went 4-for-10 at the net, hitting a .400 clip, with no miscues on her attack.  Melanie Costa (Ludlow, MA) and Jenna-Lynn Geary (Marion, MA) matched with three digs each and setter Meghan Crozier (Ballston Spa, NY) contributed six assists.  As a team, the Lasers had a .214 attack percentage.

Set two was a back-and-forth affair that began with Valerine Biascochea (Central Falls, RI) and Tayla Rescio (Johnston, RI) producing big kills to give Rhode Island a 2-0 start.  Lasell, however, came back to even the score at three-all after kills by Drapeau, then taking the lead on a Sara Biondo (Coventry, RI) attack to the opposite corner.  

After eight lead changes and seven ties in the set, the Anchorwomen took a two point lead just as both teams entered double-figures (12-10). Lasell recovered and evened the score at 13 before taking the biggest lead of the game at 20-15.  Rhode Island would not back down as Heidel notched two kills, Ashley Signoriello (Cranston, RI) added another, and a Lasell error closed the gap to a one point game (20-19).  Subsequent to the eleventh tie of the game, at 21-all, Lasell's Eileen Barrett (Ludlow, MA) cut back from a hit in the middle to find open court.  Barrett and Taylor Riley (Greencastle, PA) then combined for two blocks in the final points of the game to give Lasell a 25-23 victory.

 Drapeau and Barrett tallied a combined nine points for the Lasers on their attack.  Geary, Riley, and Marisa Visocchi (Whitman, MA) each picked up four digs and Crozier distributed nine assists.

Despite holding an advantage in total kills in the set (12-10) and a slight edge in hitting percentage (.125-.075), Rhode Island could not put the game away.  Heidel matched her efforts from the first set with five kills and added five digs.  Biascochea added five digs and Jessica Ho (Providence, RI) notched 12 assists.

Rhode Island came out on an 8-1 run in the third set before Lasell closed the disparity in score to just four (14-10).  The Lasers fell into another seven point deficit before a double-block by Drapeau and Biondo sparked the Lasers into a comeback.  Lasell tied the score at 17-all before taking the lead on Anchorwomen mistakes. Drapeau closed the set with a service ace (25-19) and won the match, 3-0.

In the third set alone, Costa recorded a set-best 10 digs, on her way to a match-high 16 dig performance.  Drapeau duplicated her previous set accomplishment of five kills and Crozier put up eight more assists.

Ho partnered seven assists with seven digs in the final set and Heidel accompanied five kills with eight digs. 

Heidel finished the match with a uniform 15 kills and 15 digs in a fine double-double presentation.  Ho also dispatched a double-double showing with 25 assists and 14 digs, while Signoriello accounted for a double-figure tally in the dig column with 14.

Crozier reached a near double-double with 23 assists and 9 digs at the conclusion of the match while Geary totaled 11 digs for a double-digit effort.

Lasell returns to Great Northeast Athletic Conference play on Thursday, September 23rd when they travel to local rivals Mount Ida College for a 7:00 p.m. match against the Mustangs.