Women's Volleyball Drops Heartbreaker 3-2 in GNAC Opener

Newton, Mass. - The Lasell College women's volleyball team suffered a heartbreaking 3-2 loss at Mount Ida in their Great Northeast Athletic Conference opening match. The Lasers dropped to 0-8 on the season and 0-1 in conference play, while the host Mustangs improved to 2-4 on the season and 1-0 in the league.

Mount Ida took the opening set, 25-17 before the visitors evened the match at 1-1 with a 25-21 advantage in the second set. THe Mustangs won the third set, tallying the last two points of the set to break a 23-23 tie.

Trailing 2-1 heading into the fourth set, Lasell put together a gritty fourth set, building an early 15-10 lead and fighting back when the hosts pulled even at 23-23. The two teams traded points until Lasell broke a 25-25 tie by notching two straight points to take the fourth set 27-25.

The fifth and final set was a back-and-forth affair that saw Lasell build an 11-9 edge, only to watch Mount Ida run off four straight points to take a 13-11 lead. Lasell struck back with a kill by Brianna Heinricher (Hanson, Mass.) to cut the Mustangs lead to 13-12 but the hosts tallied  two straight points to take the set 15-12 and the mat three sets to two.

Sophomore Alexis Chappell (Springfield, Mass.) led Lasell with 13 kills, Sara Biondo (Coventry, R.I.) added nine kills and Alyssa Nahigian (Coventry, R.I.) directed the Lasers attack tallying 22 assists in the five set affair.

Lasell will return to the court for a September 15th tri-match at Western Connecticut State with Rhode Island College.