Men’s Volleyball Falls to Lasell College, 3-0

NEWTON, Mass. – Elms College senior middle hitter Bryson Rainey (Brookline, Mass.) floored a match-high 17 kills, but Lasell College used 29 assists from Andrew Glenn (Westport, Conn.) and the Lasers hit at a .358 clip as a team to help secure a 3-0 (25-20, 25-17, 25-17) victory over the Blazers in Tuesday evening's non-conference men's volleyball match in Newton, Mass.

With the loss, Elms moves to 4-11 overall, while Lasell improves to 9-4 on the season.

Rainey was tremendous in the losing effort, notching 17 kills on 27 swings with just three errors to post a .519 hitting percentage. Rainey added six digs, while senior setter Kevin Welsh (Wilbraham, Mass.) dished out 29 assists and recorded five digs in the losing effort.

Junior middle hitter Angel Castro (Carolina, Puerto Rico) chipped in five kills and a match-high eight digs, while senior opposite hitter Kordel Latimer (Lynn, Mass.) downed seven kills.

Lasell used a balanced offensive output from Dan Raffol (Natick, Mass.) who totaled eight kills, Patrick MacDonald (Floral Park, N.Y.) who finished with seven kills, and Drew Caruso (Haverhill, Mass.) and Jeff Vautrin (Chicopee, Mass.) who tallied five kills apiece.

Vautrin served up three aces and Matthew Dugan (New Lenox, Ill.) dug a team-best six balls in defensive transition. MacDonald and Raffol followed with five digs each.

In a tightly contested first set Lasell posted a 23-19 lead before a service error pulled Elms to within three at 23-20, but back-to-back kills by Vautrin and Raffol allowed the Lasers to secure the first frame.

In the second set, Lasell cruised to a 21-10 advantage before Rainey pounded a pair of kills and the Blazers used a pair of attacking errors by the Lasers to cut the lead to seven at 21-14. Elms again cut the Lasell lead to seven at 24-17 following an attack error, but a kill by Matthew Dionne (Danville, N.H.) clinched the stanza for the Lasers and extended the lead to 2-0 in the contest.

The third set finished like the second with the Lasers holding a seven-point lead (24-17). An Elms service error allowed Lasell to complete the sweep.

Elms returns league action on Saturday, March 8 when it hosts Southern Vermont College at 2:00 p.m. at Picknelly Arena.