ROCHESTER, N.Y. – The Lasell University men's volleyball team won both matches Saturday afternoon against the host Nazareth College and D'Youville College.
The Lasers improve to 6-6 on the season and will have their home-opener this coming Wednesday, February 12 against Elms College.
Lasell 3, Nazareth 2
The Lasers trailed 13-11 in the deciding fifth set to the Golden Flyers and were forced to take a timeout. The Lasers scored four straight points to come from behind and win the set 15-13 to earn the victory.
Lasell displayed a balanced attack in the win while freshman Brenden Joyce (Randolph, Mass.) led the Lasers with a match-high 19 kills and hit at a .341 clip. Senior Scott Sterenberg (Oceanside, N.Y.) finished with 12 kills, six digs, and three service aces while freshman Garrett Linnell (Las Vegas, Nev.) totaled 10 kills.
The Lasers opened the first set with a commanding 18-10 lead. The Golden Flyers put together a little rally to cut the deficit to 23-18 but, two kills from Linnell closed out the set. Lasell would go on to win the second set 25-22 with a service ace from Joyce.
In the third set, Nazareth showed resilience and defeated the Lasers 25-19. With momentum from the previous set, the home team went on to dominate in the fourth set to win 25-13.
The Lasers won the fifth set 15-13 to take the first match of the day in the tournament.
Lasell 3, D'Youville 0
The Lasers spread around their offense in the second match of the day to sweep the Spartans, 3-0. Jan Baranowski (Wheeling, Ill.) led the team with eight kills, Sterenberg and Linnell both finished with seven kills. Sterenberg was credited a game-high seven service aces.
Junior Aaron Waitekus (Norwood, Mass.) served four straight points to grow the Lasers lead to 19-12 in the first set. A five-point run from the Spartans at 20-14 brought the lead down to one for the Lasers before they closed out the set 25-22
The second set ended 25-18 in favor of Lasell. In the third set, the Lasers controlled both sides of the match with staggering offense and defense. The Lasers won the set 25-8 and took the match, 3-0.
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