Lasers Unable to Pick Up First Win of the Year at Pomona-Pitzer Invitational

CLAREMONT, CA- The Lasell College women's volleyball team traveled to Claremont, California last week to partake in the Pomona-Pitzer Tournament, hosted by Pomona College.  The Lasers competed in four matches over the weekend, but were unable to pick up their first win of the year against the tough national competition.  The Lasers dropped each three-set match to Centre, Chapman, Willamette, and Simpson.

Senior middle hitter Danielle Drapeau (Biddeford, ME) and senior setter Meghan Crozier (Ballston Spa, NY) led the team offensively.  Crozier set up 70 assists over the course of the 12 game stretch, averaging 5.83 assists per set.  Drapeau was the connector on the majority of those balls, attempting 95 swings, and putting down 35 kills.   She averaged 2.92 kills per set, good for best on the team, as well as a .232 attack percentage.

Crozier was also a threat on defense, tying with senior defensive specialist Jenna Lynn Geary (Marion, MA) for the team-high in digs.  Both Crozier and Geary scrounged up 27 digs over the four matches, averaging 2.25 per set.

Eileen Barrett (Ludlow, MA), Sara Biondo (Coventry, RI), and first year Stella Edwards (Quincy, MA) followed Drapeau on offense at the net.  Barrett provided 19 kills, Biondo trailed her with 13 kills, and Edwards dropped in 10 kills. 

Marisa Visocchi (Whitman, MA) and Biondo also scoured the back court for digs, resulting in a combined 37 upped balls between them.  Viscocchi donned 22 of those, and Biondo added the remaining 15.

The Lasers struggled to get their momentum together off the bat, falling to Centre 25-8, 25-10, 25-23.  Drapeau led the pack in the match, with six kills, while Crozier produced 18 assists and six digs.  Geary topped the defense with nine digs.

In match number two, the Lasers began to find their footing and improved drastically on the score, falling just short of Chapman, 25-17, 25-15, 25-13.  Drapeau and Barrett both notched double-figures in the kill column with 11 and 10 respectively while Crozier put up 21 assists.  Geary scored double-digits in the dig column with 11.

Against Willamette, Drapeau had the match-high in kills with 12, while also hitting a .385 clip, with just two errors on 26 attempts.  Edwards added six kills and swung for a .312 attack percentage.  Biondo had a team-best 14 digs, just shy of the match-high 15.  Crozier also tacked on 12 digs, along with 17 assists.  Willamette won by scores of 25-15, 25-13, 25-22.

In the final game of the weekend, Simpson came up big with a 3-0 win, taking the match 25-8, 25-17, 25-16. Drapeau came away with six kills in the contest and Visocchi notched eight digs.   Crozier tallied 14 assists in the final match of the weekend.

The Lasers are next scheduled to travel to Newbury College on Friday, September 9^th to take part in the Newbury Invitational.  The Lasers will face Johnson State on Friday at 6:00 p.m. and the hosting Nighthawks at 8:00 p.m.  On Saturday, Lasell will compete against Bard at 9:00 a.m. and Sage at 1:00 p.m.  All of the matches will be played at Hellenic College, in Brookline, Massachusetts.