Volleyball Rallies Past Lasell in Five in GNAC Debut

NEW HAVEN, Conn. – Down 2-0, Suffolk volleyball came back in thrilling fashion, not only forcing a fifth set, but capturing the 3-2 match over Lasell, in GNAC at the Cosgrove Messier Athletic Center Saturday afternoon. The comeback was done by set scores 21-25, 20-25, 25-19, 27-25 and 15-10. 

THE BASICS
SCORE: Suffolk 3 | Lasell 2
RECORDS: Suffolk (5-3, 1-0 GNAC) | Lasell (2-7, 0-1 GNAC)  

SET ONE RECAP (25-21, LASELL)

• With four locked scores over the first 10 points, a kill from Hannah Fabiano followed by an ace from the junior put Suffolk ahead, 7-5. 
• The Lasers looped together a 7-1 stretch to gain a 12-8 advantage. 
• Suffolk pulled back and equalized the set at 12-all, which forced Lasell to take a timeout.
• The score would tie twice more, at 13 and 14, respectively, before the Lasers gained an edge they would not relinquish.  

SET TWO RECAP (25-20, LASELL)

• A pair of lead exchanges and six ties were seen over the opening portion of play. 
• Suffolk held an 11-10 edge at the midway point. 
• The Lasers scored six straight points to flip the switch in their favor, 16-12. 
• A comeback came from the blue-and-gold as it went off on a 4-1 run to trim the margin to two, 20-18. 
• Lasell outscored Suffolk, 5-2, the rest of the way to claim the frame, 25-20.  

SET THREE RECAP (25-19, SUFFOLK)

• Suffolk scored the first three points and built off for a 15-9 cushion. 
• The Rams continued to pile on the points to go up 18-11. 
• Lasell kept things interesting and cut the margin to three, 18-15. 
• Back-and-forth action ensued, but Suffolk hung onto the lead and claimed the set on a kill from Emerson Martin, to keep the match going.  

SET FOUR RECAP (27-25, SUFFOLK)

• The marathon fourth frame was a back-and-forth affair from the get go. 
• Out of a 6-6 tie, Lasell rattled off a 5-1 run to take an 11-7 lead. 
• The distance grew in the Lasers' favor, 17-11, thanks to another rally, this time outscoring Suffolk, 5-2. 
• The Rams' persistence paid off and they sandwiched a pair of 4-0 runs around a Lasers timeout to flip the switch in its favor, 19-17. 
• The teams went point-for-point the rest of the way until the Sarah Mullahy's kill was followed by an ace from Dakhensey Marcellus that sealed the deal for the Rams, 27-25.  

SET FIVE RECAP (15-10, SUFFOLK)

• Suffolk had to play catchup once again as it trailed 7-3. 
• The Rams responded with four consecutive points to equalize the stanza at 7-7. 
• After taking things over during a Lasell timeout, Fabiano served an ace to put the blue-and-gold in front, 8-7. 
• Suffolk never looked back from there, holding its composure to take the frame, 15-10, and the match. 

STATISTICALLY SPEAKING

• Fabiano's 16 kills anchored Suffolk's attack that had 52 kills. She added eight digs, four aces and one assist to her stat line. 
• Harmony Johnson dished out 42 assists to go along with nine digs, four kills and three digs. 
• Mullahy supplied nine kills, two digs, one ace and one block. 
• Kenzley Bell pitched in 28 digs, seven assists and three aces. 
• Kayla Barbera contributed to the offense and defense with seven kills and six digs.  

NOTEWORTHY

• Suffolk opened its GNAC calendar against Lasell for the first time. 
• The Rams defeated the Lasers in the foes second straight meeting, a feat the blue-and-gold has not completed since the 2002-2003 seasons. 
• Suffolk and Lasell went the distance for the second-time since 1999. Both five-set thrillers the Rams have won. 
• Suffolk moved to 10-12 all-time versus Lasell, excluding the 2000 and 2001 seasons. 
• The blue-and-gold captured its second-straight conference debut, marking back-to-back seasons with a mark in the win column in its league opener since 2014-15. 
• The five-set win marked the second-ever distance match in the first conference competition of the year for Suffolk, both of which the Rams won.  
• The Rams improved to 7-10 in its first GNAC match of the year since 2003 and are 2-0 in the Scott Blanchard era. 
• Johnson notched a new career-best in assists, handing out 42. 
• Bell produced a career-high 28 digs.  

POST-MATCH PIC
  

COMING UP
Suffolk concludes the conference tri-match against the hosts, Albertus Magnus, this afternoon at 3 p.m.