Lasers sweep Blue Jays to win 11th straight

The women's volleyball team rounded out their tri-match at the Athletic Center on Saturday with a huge win over the St. Joe’s Connecticut Blue Jays, improving to 13-1, making for the best start to a season in the program's history.

The first set began with the Blue Jays going on a quick 3-0 run. Juliana Medini would respond with a 3-0 run of her own for the Lasers, while Isabelle Borowinski recorded an ace which forced the visitors to talk it over. Suddenly, the Lasers found their rhythm, ending the set on a 16-4 run.

The second set started similar to the one prior. Both teams played well-balanced volleyball early on, but this time it was St. Joe’s who pulled away first. The Lasers found themselves down by as much as eight points, as the Blue Jays were on the verge of knotting the game up at one set a piece.

Even though the set felt highly in favor of the Blue Jays who led 24-20, Head Coach Jeff Vautrin’s team continued to hustle and dive for every ball. McKenna McCool put the team on her back, recording three monster kills in the final moments of the set, as the Lasers would storm back, winning 26-24 after not leading in the same set since the score was in their favor 5-4.

According to first-year Rylee Sherman and junior Emily Cerasani, Vautrin engaged with the team during a timeout right before the second comeback and said the Blue Jays were feeding off their little mistakes, so the only way they would win was by correcting them.

The Lasers would pick up right where they left off in the third set, as Sydney Katz started off the set with three consecutive aces. The Lasers then blew open up the game, going on a 9-0 run. The offense continued to surge, triumphing over the Blue Jays 25-13 largely in part because of the aggressive and confident play of Medini.

After the game, Sherman described Medini as an idol to the team. “I love her! Everyone looks up to [Juliana],” said Sherman. “She has a good attitude all the time [which] is really exciting to see.”

After two consecutive tri-match sweeps in back-to-back weekends at home, the Lasers will look to extend their win streak to twelve games as they take on the Wheaton Lions on Thursday, October 5 at 7 p.m. inside the Athletic Center.