Lakers Jump Out to a 2-0 Start at Monroe College Invitational

NEW ROCHELLE, N.Y. - The Lakers men's volleyball would make history Friday night, jumping out 2-0 on the season and securing the programs first win. The Lakers traveled to the Monroe College Invitational in New Rochelle, NY to take part in the emerging sports inaugural tournament at the Monroe Athletic Complex.

Lakers vs. Union County College

For the programs first game of the new season, the Lakers would face off against the Union County Owls. The Lakers would make quick work, sweeping the Owls, 25-20, 25-15, and 25-11 enroute to a 3-0 finish.

The Lakers attack would be paced by two Victor High School grads in game one. Teammates Jonah Grbic (Victor, N.Y./ Victor) and Ian Meeks (Victor, N.Y./ Victor) would tally 14.5 and 9.5 points respectively. Grbic would earn a game-high 12 kills to go along with 1 ace, 5 digs, a block solo, and block assist. Meeks would follow up with 8 kills on the attack; finishing with an efficient .500 kill percentage. Meeks would play a crucial role in setting up his teammates, finishing with 14 assists. 

A trio of Canandaigua Academy grads would play crucial roles for the Lakers, including Nick Ferris (Canandaigua, N.Y./ Canandaigua Academy) who would put together a 7 kill and 3 service ace performance; good for 10.5 points. Freshman teammate Bryce Ceravolo (Canandaigua, N.Y./ Canandaigua Academy) finished the match with a game-high 18 assists to go with 4 kills and 4 digs in the scorebook, followed by AJ DeBalso (Canandaigua, N.Y./ Canandaigua Academy) with 3 aces and 12 digs in three sets played.

Teammates Samuel Guardado (San Salvador, El Salvador/ Josue Christian) and Nehemiah Williams (Waterloo, N.Y./ Waterloo) would finish with 3 and 2.5 points respectively. Guardado would add 3 kills, 1 assist, and 3 digs to his tally, while Williams would conclude the afternoon with 2 kills and a block assist on defense.

The Lakers dominant finish would set themselves up for their last matchup of the day.

Lakers vs. Middlesex College

Lakers sophomore Jonah Grbic would follow up a strong first match with an even more impressive game two against the Middlesex College Colts. Grbic would earn the start and lead the attack for the Lakers, finish with 14 kill on 25 attempts. Grbic would go on to add 2 aces, 5 digs and 2 block assists on defense to his tally. 

For a second-straight match, freshman Bryce Ceravolo would lead with a game-high 14 assists. Ceravalo would add to his tally with 3 kills, 5 aces, 3 digs, and 1 block assist in a well-rounded performance. Freshman teammate AJ DeBalso would put together a similar performance in match two, tallying 3 aces and 11 digs. Freshman Daniel Seymour (Bellmore, N.Y./ John F. Kennedy) would make the most of one set played, adding 1 kill and 3 block solos on defense; the latter a game-high.

The Lakers have two games on the slate tomorrow, February 4th at the Monroe Athletic Complex in New Rochelle, NY. First, against Passaic County Community College out of New Jersey at 11 AM. The Lakers morning matchup will be followed by a highly-anticipated matchup with the Monroe College Mustangs at 3 PM. The Mustangs enter tomorrow's matchup with a record of 4-0, all of which finished as 3-0 sweeps in favor of the Mustangs. Tune into the Lakers pivotal matchups tomorrow here.

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