WPI Sweeps Women's Volleyball 3-0

NEWTON, Mass. (9/8/15) – The Lasell College women's volleyball team fell to the Worcester Polytechninc Institute 3-0 during their 2015 home opener on Tuesday evening in the Athletic Center Gym. The Lasers remain winless at 0-7, whie the Engineers jump to 3-1 overall.

Senior Taylor Hansen (Gorham, Maine) steered the Lasers with seven kills and a season-best 18 digs, while senior Heather Longley (North Granby, Conn.) and sophomore Odina Ellis (Providence, R.I.) each chipped in with five kills apiece.

Engineers' Freshman Casey Hunt (Granby, Conn.) led all players in the victory with 15 kills and 19 digs – a season high and her second double-double – while sophomores Brooke Klepper (Miami, Fla.) and Melissa Daigle (Norfolk, Mass.) added seven kills.

WPI breezed by the first two sets by scores of 25-20 and 25-15. Down 2-0, the Lasers came out in set three with a different pace, and survived eight ties in the effort. Lasell took the opening points for their own, as Hansen, Ellis and sophomore Taylor Tiezzi (Meriden, Conn.) teamed up for the early offense.

The Engineers began to chip away at the score, evening out at 13 after a Lasell attack error. A kill from Lasell freshman Olivia Addington (Orange, Calif.) would set the score at 16, before junior Engineer Sam Bircsak (Acton, Mass.) gave the visitors their first lead of the game 17-16.

Quick to respond, Addington took the line for the Lasers for four straight points (21-18), forcing a WPI timeout. The visitors adapted quickly to the offensive scuffle, as Hunt added a kill to put them within a two-point reach. Sophomore Azita Bakhtyari (Andover, Mass.) stepped in for WPI, and served up three straight points before the hosts took a timeout of their own. A bad set from the Lasers' defense sealed the deal, as WPI ran away with the set 25-22.

The Lasers will travel to Plattsburgh, New York starting Friday, September 11, for the Cardinal Classic Tournament, while the Engineers head to Boston, Mass. for a tri-match with Mount Ida and the Wentworth Institute of Technology on Saturday, September 12.