NEWTON, Mass. – Regis College lost to Lasell College, 3-0 (25-20, 25-23, 25-14), Thursday night in a Great Northeast Athletic Conference men's volleyball match at the Lasell Athletic Center.
Drew Beimel (Redondo Beach, Calif.) led the Pride with 11 kills and a .273 hitting percentage, while Matt Ferrara (Haverhill, Mass.) finished with eight kills and five digs and Kostea Andreenko (Marstons Mills, Mass.) contributed seven kills and four total blocks. Sebastian Valdes (Diamond Bar, Calif.) accumulated 24 assists as Regis was close to Lasell in kills (33-31), but the Lasers were able to win in part because of their backline defense, collecting 29 digs to Regis' 19 digs.
Lasell (13-14, 7-5 GNAC) took the early lead in the opening set thanks to three straight points, but a 4-1 Regis run closed its deficit to 12-11. The Lasers reestablished their four-point lead on two kills by Andy Henriquez, but the Pride scored four unanswered points, led by Ferrara with two kills. Lasell closed out the first set with an 8-3 scoring run, led by three kills from Janci Soto.
Two kills from Andreenko allowed the Pride to take an early 4-2 lead in the second set, but Lasell came back with a 7-2 scoring run, led by two kills from Aaron Waitekus. After Regis pulled into a 14-14 tie, the Lasers scored six straight points to pull ahead. The Pride closed to within one thanks to an 8-2 scoring run, but Lasell clinched the set on a kill by Conor Leary-Watson.
The Lasers grabbed control of the third set by scoring nine of the first 10 points, starting with consecutive service aces by Henriquez. After Regis cut its deficit to five at 12-7, Lasell put together an 8-1 scoring run, and then the Lasers finished off the set and the match with a solo block by Leary-Watson.
Soto led the Lasers with nine kills, while Henriquez collected 24 assists, five kills, three service aces, two digs, and two total blocks. Lasell libero Jordan Aprea led the defensive effort with nine digs to go along with four assists.
Regis (10-14, 3-10 GNAC) closes the regular season at Wentworth Saturday, April 6, starting at 11 a.m. The Pride need to defeat the Leopards and have Emerson lose once Saturday, or see the Lions lose to both Rivier and Colby-Sawyer, in order to clinch the sixth and final spot in the GNAC Tournament, as Emerson would win a tiebreaker over Regis based on taking more sets in the two head-to-head meetings (5-4).