Women's Volleyball Battles Ida to 3-1 Rivalry Victory

NEWTON, Mass. (10/18/17) – The Lasell women's volleyball team powered to a 3-1 Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) victory against crosstown rival Mount Ida College Wednesday evening inside the Lasell Athletic Center. The Lasers move to 4-4 against league opponents and 10-17 overall, while the Mustangs drop to 4-4 in the GNAC and 17-9 this season.

Lasell hit over .200 in two sets and had key performances from a number of players, led by a career-high 16 kills from senior Meredith Eagan (North Andover, Mass.). Olivia Addington (Orange, Calif.) followed Eagan's surge with her 11^th double-double of the season, with 13 kills and 15 digs. Caitlyn Garcia (Moreno Valley, Calif.) hit the floor for 28 digs, while setter Taylor Tiezzi (Meriden, Conn.) dished out 42 assists, one helper away from the Lasell record in four sets. With Garcia's dig total on the evening, she became just the second women's volleyball player to reach the 2,000 digs milestone. 

Kristy Walton steered the Mustang attack with 14 digs and a scorching .314 swinging percentage. Rachael Colombo was the next closest Mustang in kills with nine total, while three members of the visiting team reached double digits in digs by Mary Kate Reidy, Katherine Eastwood, and Alexis Bell. Bell additionally served up 33 assists for the double-double performance.

Both teams traded point-for-point in the first set, with Lasell only surrounding the lead on two occasions, grabbing an eventual 25-21 set win.  The second frame started in favor of the visitors, as Ida built a 7-1 lead to start. The Lasers went on an 8-3 run coming out of a timeout, to trail by just one 10-9, in part to two kills and a block by senior Michele Canestro (Castleton, N.Y.). The visitors, however would not surrender the lead, and used kills from Bell and Julia Pelland for a 14-10 advantage. Down 18-16 following an Ida kill from Pelland, the Lasers executed a 5-0 run with Addington on the serve to lead the Mustangs 22-18. Lasell hung on to the lead, and finished the set 25-23 after two attack errors from Mount Ida.

The Mustangs bounced back in the third with 15 team kills, in a resilience avenged effort. Neither team led by a greater margin of three points, until a Mustangs' attack error followed an Addington kill for a 23-19 Laser lead. The Mustangs were down but not out, as Walton kept the Black and Green in the game, knotting the score at 24-all. Ida was awarded the extended 27-15 set victory on back-to-back blocks from Hannah Simpkins and Bell, as Lasell headed into the fourth holding a 2-1 lead.

Lasell used a 5-1 run to build a 12-8 advantage in the middle segment of the final set, and never gave up the lead in the ensuing plays. With Lauren Piper (Scarborough, Maine) on the service line, Lasell scored five of the concluding seven points, including two aces from the senior setter, to close out the set 25-20 and the 3-1 match victory.

The Lasers return to GNAC action on Saturday, October 21 when they head to Emmanuel College for a tri with Regis starting at 2:00 p.m. The Mustangs will head to Northfield, Vt. for a conference tri-match with Norwich and Albertus on Friday.