WVB: Lasell downs Saint Joe’s of Maine in key GNAC match

STANDISH, Maine – Freshman Sabine Milton (San Mateo, Calif.) pounded 17 kills and added nine digs Wednesday evening to lead the Lasell University women's volleyball team to a 3-1 victory over Saint Joseph's College of Maine in a Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) match at the Alfond Center.

The Lasers won by set scores of 25-22, 18-25, 25-11 and 25-21. With the victory, Lasell improves to 13-7 overall and 5-2 in the GNAC, while St. Joe's drops to 7-17 and 4-5.

Freshman Tori Scambray (Brea, Calif.) added eight kills and a team-high 13 digs in the win for the Lasers. Classmate Mckenna McCool (Loomis, Calif.) contributed seven kills, five services aces and seven digs, and senior Jess Langan (Burnt Hills, N.H.) posted a double-double with 10 digs and 26 set assists.

Senior Nicole Baron (Derry, N.H.) and freshman Hanna Webster (Alvin, Texas) led the home team with seven kills apiece, and freshman Maggie Sylvester (Barrington, N.H.) had five kills and four blocks.

The first set was close the entire way, with the teams tied at 21-all after a kill by Lasell freshman Juliana Medini (Roxbury, N.J.). After a couple of Monk errors, the Lasers went on to clinch the set after a service ace by Scambray and a kill by Medini.

The Monks pulled away in the middle of the second set, leading 19-11 before Lasell won five in a row to pull to within three points. The Lasers could get no closer and St. Joe's evened the match at one set apiece.

Lasell took control of the third set and led 11-5 after two kills by Milton and one from Scambray. The Lasers followed with a 5-1 surge on the strength of kills by Milton, Langan and Medini to open up a double-digit margin (16-6), and then scored the final five points of the set on three kills by Milton, one by Scambray and an ace by McCool.

The fourth set went back and forth, trading leads, and the Monks had pulled out to a 19-16 advantage, but Lasell came alive to outscore the hosts 9-2 down the stretch, as McCool pounded four kills to spark the Laser surge.

The Lasers will be right back in action on Thursday, hosting Rhode Island College in the Senior Night affair at the Lasell Athletic Center, beginning at 7 p.m.

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