BROOKLINE, Mass. – The Lesley University men's volleyball team dropped a close-knit 3-1 matchup to host Newbury College in New England Collegiate Conference action tonight in Brookline, Mass. The Nighthawks, who earned the season-series sweep of the Lynx, used set scores of 25-23, 25-20, 21-25, and 25-23 to earn the victory.
Lesley junior posted a double-double with a season-high 15 kills and a career-best 22 digs to lead the offense while freshman Karuna Chiemruom (Cranston, R.I.) dished out a personal-best 28 assists – his third straight match registering a new career-high. Senior Chris Barletta (Valrico, Fla.) matched his season-high with nine kills and junior Pierre St. Simon (Farmingdale, N.Y.) set a career-best mark with eight kills while swinging an emphatic .571 on the night. Fellow junior Jacob DiDomenico (North Providence, R.I.) slammed down eight kills.
Newbury sophomore Wade Robidoux (Agawam, Mass.) registered 22 kills while tallying eight digs while freshman Skyelar Whitehead (Belchertown, Mass.) added a double-double with ten kills and 12 digs. Classmate Zach Kaufman (Newton, Mass.) also posted a double-double as he paced the offense with 37 assists to go along with a match-high 18 digs.
With the first set tied at 13-13, the Lynx took control with a 6-2 run anchored by a pair of St. Simon kills. Newbury would answer as Whitehead sparked a 4-0 run to tie the game up and swing momentum over to the Nighthawk bench. Lesley would take a 23-22 edge following a Burns kill before the Nighthawks went on to score the final three points of the set, sealed by a block by junior Nile Fox (Hampton, Va.) to take the 1-0 match advantage.
Newbury jumped out in front by two games with a 25-20 win in the second set. Robidoux remained consistent, leading the Nighthawk offense tallying five kills while Whitehead followed up with two and Thorne was nearly perfect from the floor tallying two kills on three attempts.
However, the Lynx were not going to be denied, and never trailed in the third to earn a 25-21 victory in the set and cut the match deficit to 2-1. Barletta came on strong in game three five kills in the set while Burns added four. St. Simon was force at the net recording two total blocks – one solo and one block assist.
In the fourth set, the Nighthawks answered jumping out to an early lead but the Lynx were not going away, clawing their way back to tie up the match at 16. The Nighthawks responded with a 6-1 run to take a 22-17 lead and never looked back as they went on to take the game and the match, 25-23.
Newbury closes out the season improving to 5-19 and 2-8 in conference play while Lesley drops to 0-17 and 0-9 in NECC action. The Lynx will be back in action this Saturday when they travel to Weston, Mass. to square off against Regis College at 11:00 A.M.