THE BASICS:
 
- Score: Lasell College 3, MIT 0 (25-21, 25-22, 25-16)
 
- Records: MIT (1-4), Lasell (3-3)
 
- Location: Newton, Mass. (Athletic Center)
 
- The Lead: Lasell overcame a 10-4 second set deficit en route to a 3-0 victory over the MIT men's volleyball team on Wednesday night as the Lasers defeated the Engineers 25-21, 25-22, 25-16.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED:
 
- Set 1: After a back and forth start to the set, Lasell raced out on a 7-2 run to take a 15-10 advantage, one that MIT would be unable to overcome. Grad student Nick Gustafson (San Diego, Calif.) finished the set with four kills and a service ace but it wasn't enough as Lasell, behind five kills from Brenden Joyce eked out the 25-21 victory.
 
- Set 2: MIT jumped out to a 10-4 lead jump started by a Gustafson kill as the Engineers took advantage of four-straight miscues from the Lasers for the five-point advantage. However, Lasell rallied off five-straight points on the serve of Jan Baranowski and a pair of kills from Theo Zaharewicz to bring things within one, 13-12. In their next time at the service line, the Lasers rallied off another four points to take a 17-14 advantage en route to the 25-22 victory. MIT never gave up with a kill from senior Phillip Johnson (Chandler, Ariz.) brought the Engineers within two, 24-22 late in the loss.
 
- Set 3: Lasell jumped out to a fast 5-0 lead featuring three service aces from Joyce and ultimately built up an 11-3 and later 17-8 lead en route to the win. MIT went serve for serve down the stretch but it was not enough as the Lasers hung on for the victory.
 
INSIDE THE NUMBERS:
 
- Gustafson finished with a game-high 12 kills followed by six from first year Ryan Espinoza (Los Angeles, Calif.) and five from sophomore Michael Rini (Huntington Beach, Calif.) who also hit .444 on the night. Senior Max Turner (Chandler, Ariz.) dished out 26 assists and six digs while Espinoza also added a pair of service aces and a trio of digs.
 
- Lasell was lead by Zaharewicz who finished with 11 kills and four blocks. Joyce with 10 and Jordan Shinut with nine. Joyce finished the night with five digs as well as a trio of service aces. Jesus Garcia led the way with 30 assists in the game.
 
- The Engineers finished with a .213 kill percentage to Lasell's .449. Lasell finished with six aces while MIT ended the game with four. The Lasers also paced the way with 10 blocks to MIT's one.
 
UP NEXT:
 
- MIT is back in action in just one day's time when they return to the court against Rivier University on Thursday, February 1 at 6:30 p.m. while Lasell will kick off the month of February on Friday, Feb. 2 when they face Endicott in Springfield, Mass. at 8 p.m.
 
STAY CONNECTED:
 
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