Lasell Men’s Volleyball drops two at Nazareth Tournament

ROCHESTER, N.Y. – The Lasell College men's volleyball team continued the season Friday evening with a pair of matches in the Nazareth College Golden Flyer Invitational. The Lasers went down to defeat in both matches by scores of 3-1, falling to St. John Fisher College and Medaille College at Kidera Gymnasium. 

The Lasers gave St. John Fisher a tough battle, falling to the Cardinals in the first two sets, 25-23 and 25-22. Lasell came back to take the third set, 25-22, but fell in the fourth set, 25-18. Medaille avenged a previous 3-0 loss to Lasell earlier this season with a four-set triumph in the late match. After the Mavericks took the opening set 25-23, Lasell evened the score with a 25-10 in set two, but Medaille put the match away with 25-21 and 25-20 decisions in the final two sets. 

The outcomes leave Lasell with a 1-8 record on the season, while St. John Fisher is now 8-6 and Medaille moves to 3-4. 

Lasell had a balanced offensive attack in the match against St. John Fisher, with junior Nathan Gallo (North Providence, R.I.) and freshmen Aaron Waitekus (Norwood, Mass.) and Conor Leary-Watson (Bethany, Conn.) all posting eight kills and junior Jordan Aprea (Newington, Conn.) adding seven winners. Gallo led the way with a .462 attack percentage while Waitekus hit at a .278 clip, and junior setter Andy Henriquez (Lawrence, Mass.) finished with 30 assists. 

It was a balanced defensive attack as well for Lasell, as Gallo made nine digs and Aprea and freshman Cobi Moore (Hampstead, N.H.) recorded eight apiece. Waitekus posted a team-best two blocks at the net. 

Sophomore Janci Soto (Lawrence, Mass.) had a strong performance against Medaille, posting nine kills and just one error in 11 attempts (.727 attack percentage) while Aprea also recorded nine kills. Henriquez recorded 33 assists, second-most in a match this season, and sophomore Scott Sterenberg (Oceanside, N.Y.) chipped in with five kills.

Aprea registered a season-high 20 digs against the Mavericks, and Moore chipped in with 13 digs and Waitekus added three blocks. 

Lasell will play two more matches in the tournament on Saturday, facing Wells College at 3:00 p.m. and host Nazareth at 5:00 p.m.

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