Women's Volleyball Goes 1-2 at Cardinal Classic

PLATTSBURG, N.Y. (9/12/15) – Junior Heather Longley (North Granby) was placed on the All-Tournament team after the Lasell women's volleyball team went 1-2 at the 2015 Best Western-Ground Round Cardinal Classic. After the weekend, the Lasers improve their record to 1-9. Lasell began the tournament with two tough 3-0 losses against SUNY Poly and Plattsburg State, before clenching a five-set victory against Elms College.

Plattsburgh State 3, Lasell 0 (25-17, 26-24, 25-17)

Sophomore Michele Casentro (Castleton, N.Y.) had nine spikes for the Lasers, as senior Taylor Hansen (Gorham, Maine) chipped in with seven. Sophomore setter Taylor Tiezzi (Meriden, Conn.) served up 17 assists, and sophomore libero Caitlyn Garcia (Moreno Valley, Calif.) recorded 10 digs.

The Lasers laid claim to the first two points of the match, but a termination from Noelle Miller started off an 8-1 run for the Cardinals. From that point on, the home squad would never find themselves trailing for the rest of the frame. 

Wickers sprung for back-to-back kills in Plattsburgh State's opening salvo and the final two points came by way of Lasell attack errors. Freshman Odana Ellis (Providence, R.I.) pulled the Lasers within four, 11-7, with a hard right-handed termination, but a 5-0 spurt which concluded with a service ace off the hand of Evelyn Vicencio pushed the Cardinals' edge to 16-7.

Lasell never closed to within fewer than five points for the remainder of the set as the Cardinals opened up a 1-0 lead. The second set, though, featured a total of seven deadlocks and Plattsburgh State had to battle back and stave off three set points to keep their hopes for another straight-set victory alive.

With Lasell holding a lead of as many as five points (15-10), Plattsburgh State found itself facing a 24-21 deficit after consecutive service aces from Ellis. The Cardinals' hopes began to brighten after a pair of errors by the Lasers, and Noelle Miller managed to make it 24-all with a hard kill from the middle of the net. Vicencio added another service ace before one final miscue by the Lasers ended the Cardinals' set-clinching 5-0 surge.

The pace of the deciding set was back-and-forth in the early stages as Lasell knotted things at eight points apiece by way of a Cardinal attack error. All the momentum swung in favor of the hosts, though, when Gabriel floated down a touch-kill, instigating a 7-0 Plattsburgh State run. 

Plattsburgh State hit .118 in the deciding set and .066 for the match while holding the Lasers to an attack percentage of .030. Heather Longley put down a team-best six kills and added a solo block and three block assists to lead the way for the Lasers.

Lasell 3 Elms 2 (24-16, 25-12, 22-25, 25-12, 15-9)

In the 3-2 triumph, Longley registered a team-high 17 kills for a .560 kill percentage to go along with 22.5 points. Freshman Olivia Addington (Orange, Calif.) added six kills and five digs, while Garcia led the Lasers' defense with 21 digs. 

For Elms, Danielle Redding had nine kills and a 20 digs, while Rachel Magnuson registered six kills and 10 digs.

The Blazers came out of a close first set 26-24, before Lasell took the second half with ease, 25-12. Roles flipped for the following two sets, as Elms took set three and Lasell took set four, forcing a fifth deciding set. The Lasers were on point in the deciding factor, and took set five for their own, 15-19, to seal the 3-2 match victory.

The Lasers will hit the road on Tuesday, September 15, for a non-conference match at Rhode Island College at 6:00 p.m.