The Albertus Magnus men's volleyball team dropped its first match of the year with a 3-1 final at Lasell in the Falcons' Great Northeast Athletic Conference opener on Thursday night. Despite 19 kills from freshman Glenn Johnson (Newington, Conn.), the Falcons fell in the league match by scores of 25-21, 27-29, 19-25, 19-25.
The Falcons (7-1, 0-1 GNAC) won the first set of the night by a score of 25-21 led by four kills from Johnson. They also won 22 straight-sets to open the season before dropping a 29-27 decision to Lasell (7-6, 2-4 GNAC) in the second frame of the night.
That second-set battle consisted of 21 kills recorded by Albertus, while Lasell squeaked out with a win after two unforced Falcon errors. During the second set, Lasell broke an 18-all tie and took a 21-19 lead before the Falcons jumped ahead 24-23. The Lasers tied it up on an Albertus service error before taking the eventual 29-27 win.
Lasell took the third set 25-19 despite a late rally by the Falcons to put the Lasers up 2-1. In the fourth set, Lasell jumped out to a 6-3 advantage thanks to three Falcon hitting miscues. The Lasers extended their lead to 10-6 before an Albertus timeout. The Falcons tied the set at 13 apiece but the Lasers went on an 8-1 run to take a 21-14 lead and never looked back, taking a 25-19 victory to secure the match.
Johnson recorded 19 kills in 34 attempts to finish the night with a hitting percentage of .529, while he added three digs. Johnson's 19 kills in 34 attempts marked a career-high for the rookie as well.
Carlos Torres (Adjuntas, Puerto Rico) dished out 45 assists on the night, while he added six kills for the Falcons as well. His 45 helpers marked a career-high for the setter as he also registered a season-best eight digs.
Brendan Charamut (Southington, Conn.) tallied 16 kills for Albertus, while teammate Chase Brinton (Bethany, Conn.) recorded eight kills and a team-high 14 digs. Douglas DeSousa (Danbury, Conn.) contributed with 13 digs as well.
Lasell was led by Matt Dionne and Tim Anderson as they both tallied 13 kills in the Laser's victory. Freshman Matt Dugan dished out 42 assists for the Lasers, his second-highest tally of the year.
The Falcons will head to Yeshiva on Sunday for a non-conference tri-match as they will take on Webb at 1:00 p.m. before taking on the Maccabees in a 3:00 p.m. match-up.
