March 26, 2011

Box Score

NASHUA, N.H. – Third-seeded Lasell College pulled off a 3-1 upset over second-seeded Emmanuel College in the semifinals of the Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) Tournament played at Rivier College on Saturday afternoon. For the fourth-straight season, host Rivier College took the GNAC title, defeating the Lasers in the championship match, 3-1. Emmanuel had reached the tournament finals for the past three-straight years, before falling to Lasell today in the conference semifinal round.

The Saints, who were ranked 13th in this week's AVCA national poll, dropped the opening set to the Lasers, 23-25. Emmanuel then punched right back and took the second set, 25-18. Game three went to Lasell, 20-25. In set four, it appeared that the Lasers would cruise to victory, but a five-point service run by Emmanuel senior Curtis Abram (San Luis Obispo, Calif.) tied the game at 22 and eventually the Saints took a 23-22 lead. Lasell's Harry Strobel (Westport, Conn.) sided out to tie the game at 23. A Lasell serve led to a back and forth rally until Abram took a swing from the back row and a triple block stuffed it back to give Lasell a 24-23 lead. The next serve led to a right side attack by Saints senior Matt Salvi (Trumbull, Conn.), who tipped the ball just out of bounds to complete the Lasell upset.

Spencer Parker led Lasell with 19 kills to go along with 3 blocks, while Strobel added 13 kills and 2 blocks. Micah Aiu had a team high 7 blocks and Mike Harrington (Billerica, Mass.) added 7 kills with a .600 hitting percentage. Parker and Andrew Glenn received All-Tournament Team honors for the Lasers.

Abram, who was named this week's GNAC Player of the Week, led Emmanuel with 17 kills, 6 digs and 4 aces. Senior Cam Todd (Los Angeles, Calif.) hit .700 with 8 kills in 10 swings, while Thomas McCaffrey (Massapequa, N.Y.) posted 9 kills and 3 blocks. Senior libero Jake DeLuise (Wakefield, R.I.) led the Emmanuel defense with 8 digs, while setters Sean O'Connor (Hampstead, N.H.) and Nick Updike combined for 42 assists in the effort. Abram was named to the All-Tournament Team for the Saints.

2011 GNAC Men's Volleyball All-Tournament Team

Tournament MVP-Jared Andreozzi - Rivier

Andrew Glenn - Lasell

Steve Visentin - Rivier

Spencer Parker - Lasell

Drew Corwin - Rivier

Curtis Abram - Emmanuel

Eric Minnich - Johnson & Wales