WESTON, Mass. - The Regis (Mass.) men's volleyball team battled back from a two sets to none deficit on Tuesday night, but fell in the fifth set to Lasell College 25-20, 25-20, 20-25, 23-25, 15-8 in Great Northeast Athletic Conference play at Higgins Court.
With the loss, the Pride falls to 4-7 overall on the season, and 1-2 in GNAC play. The Lasers improve to 2-11 and 1-1 in the conference.
The teams battled back and forth in the opening set, but a late surge by the Lasers would help them take the early lead. With the Pride ahead 17-16, Lasell went on an 8-1 run to take a commanding 24-18 lead. Regis was able to get a couple points back, but it proved far too little too late and the Lasers prevailed to open the match.
The Lasers went wire-to-wire in set number two to take a commanding lead, and were again propelled by a big run in the set en route to the win. Three consecutive service aces from freshman Conor Leary-Watson (Bethany, Conn.) highlighted an 10-2 run that ran a 9-8 Lasell lead to 19-10, a deficit from which the Pride simply couldn't recover.
Regis began to turn it on in the third set to climb back into the contest. The majority of the set was tight, but with the Lasers ahead 19-18 on the verge of a sweep, a pair of Brett Krahl (Santa Clarita, Calif.) kills book-ended a 7-1 run to close out the set and put the Pride on the board.
As was the theme of the night, a run was the difference in the fourth set after a tight start. Krahl recorded three kills on a 6-0 run as the Pride went ahead 17-11, but Lasell wouldn't go away easily. The Lasers battled all the way back to make the score 24-23, but a kill from Drew Beimel (Redondo Beach, Calif.) capped off the narrow fourth set victory for the Pride.
The fifth and deciding set was all Lasers right from the start, while the Pride struggled on offense. Lasell hit .333 percent in the set versus just .095 for the Pride, and Lasell clinched the match on back to back attack errors by the Pride to snap an eight-match losing skid.
It was a big night offensively for a handful of players on both sides of the net. Leary-Watson led all players with 16 kills on the evening, followed by teammates Aaron Waitekus (Norwood, Mass.) with 14 and Scott Sterenberg (Oceanside, N.Y.) with 13. For the Pride, Krahl and freshman Inelson Alves (Brockton, Mass.) led the way with 12 kills apiece, while Beimel (11) and Jeff Ramos (Pawtucket, R.I.; 10) also finished in double figures. It was a big night for setters as well, as Lasell's Andy Henriquez (Lawrence, Mass.) had 49 assists and the Pride's Jayson Vega (Ponce, Puerto Rico) had 42.
Next up for Regis, they'll play the final match before Spring Break with a conference matchup against Emerson on Thursday evening. Lasell will be back in action the same evening with a road trip up to Rivier.
#RegisMVB