Lasell Men’s Volleyball falls in three sets at Emerson

BOSTON, Mass. – The Lasell College men's volleyball team dropped a three-set match at Emerson College Tuesday evening in a Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) match at Brown & Plofker Gym.

The Lions avenged a tough five-set loss to the Lasers last week at Lasell, winning on its home court by scores of 25-20, 25-22 and 25-20. Emerson improves to 11-10 overall and 4-8 in the GNAC, while Lasell drops to 7-20 overall and 4-8 in conference matches.

Sophomore Scott Sterenberg (Oceanside, N.Y.) led the Lasers with a career-high 16 kills and a .211 attack percentage. Junior setter Andy Henriquez (Lawrence, Mass.) had 24 assists, and freshman Cobi Moore (Hampstead, N.H.) made a team-high 17 digs. Sophomore Janci Soto (Lawrence, Mass.) chipped in with four kills and four blocks.

Senior Nick Rusk (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) led the Lions with 13 kills in his final home match, and primary setter Marcus Cepeda (Sacramento, Calif.) assisted on 35 kills. Mark Piorkowski (Montclair, N.J.) and Win Kittivatcharapong (Bangkok, Thailand) held up the back end of the offense with 11 and six kills, respectively. On the defensive end, Piorkowski and Carl D'Aguiar (Tujunga, Calif.) each had 15 digs.

The first set was a back and forth affair, with no team leading by more than three points until Emerson pulled away at the end. Rusk took the serve with a one-point lead at 20-19, and was able to win the next three points for the Lions. After trading points, the Lions grabbed the first set on a service error by Lasell.

The Lasers took a 6-0 lead to start the second set, but the Lions turned it around and won 10 of the next 13 points to take a 10-9 lead. The Lions opened up a three-point lead and never surrendered that lead for the rest of the set.

The Lions took the lead early in the final set, and built on it throughout the set. Emerson extended its lead to seven at 20-13 and was able to close out the set and the match.

Lasell will visit the Mustangs of Mount Ida College for GNAC play on Thursday at 6:00 p.m. Emerson will travel to Regis College on Saturday for two vital GNAC matches against Regis and Johnson & Wales starting at 11:00 a.m.

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