NORTON, Mass. -- The Wheaton College (Mass.) men's volleyball team had to fight tooth and nail to leave Emerson Gym with the first win over an American Volleyball Coaches Association Top-20 Ranked program as the Lyons fought back to beat number 12 ranked Lasell University 3-2 (25-23, 17-25, 27-25, 24-26, 16-14) on Saturday afternoon. 

Wheaton improved to 9-12 on the year while Lasell suffered only their sixth loss to fall to 15-6 on the year. 

Sophomore Connor Lloyd (Swansea, Mass.) was dominant on the outside for the Lyons as he set a new program record in single-match kills with 27 on .489 hitting. First year Ryan Rathbun (North Kingstown, R.I.) was just shy of a double-double, finishing with 12 kills and eight digs. R. Bennett Chiappetta (Middlefield, Conn.) had 11 kills and seven digs to earn a spot as the third Lyon to reach more than 10 kills. First year Jacob Hoy (Essex Junction, Vt.) set a new school record of his own with 53 assists in a single match. Hoy added 12 digs to complete the double-double as Wheaton took down its first ranked opponent in program history.

First year Branch Barnes (Natick, Mass.) and first year Matthew Mitko (Hicksville, N.Y.) both finished with a double-double. The former finished with 13 kills and 14 assists while the latter took home 11 kills and 14 digs. Sophomore Trystan Maloney (Colorado Springs, Colo.) had the team-high in assists with 34.

Wheaton and Lasell foreshadowed the remainder of the match from the get-go. Both sides went punch-for-punch with each other right from the opening whistle, staying even all the way up to 10-10. Kenyon and Rathbun each had two kills in the opening phase, and the Lyons showed that they were willing and able to hang with their ranked opponent. Lasell used a few of the Lyons' errors to take a narrow lead at 18-15, but Kenyon came right back at the Lasers with a kill of his own. An attacking error from Lasell right after put the Lyons just a point away from the 12th-best team in the nation. Lloyd buried back-to-back kills to tie it at 21-21, and the Lyons were able to rely on four straight Lasell errors to clinch the first set 25-23. 

Lloyd carried over his momentum into the second set. He planted four kills in the opening phases to keep the Lyons even with the Lasers. Kenyon and Lloyd worked off of a Lasell error to take the lead at 11-10, but the effort would not be sustained. Two kills from Chiappetta and another from Lloyd and Rathbun kept the Lyons' hopes alive, but the Lasers pushed for an 11-2 scoring run to clinch the second set 25-17. 

Lasell kept the pressure on the Lyons throughout the opening of the third set. Chiappetta put down three kills in an effort to gain a foothold, but the Lasers quickly opened up a 15-11 lead following an attacking error. Lloyd found the floor on his very next swing, kicking off a 3-0 burst that made it 15-14. Wheaton's attack struggled, despite closing in on the Lasers, as it's offense was unable to cleanly put the ball down. Kenyon missed the floor to give Lasell another point, putting them ahead 22-18. Kenyon kicked off the Lyons' last-gasp push for the set win, and clearly ignited a spark within his side's offense. Hoy followed up the kill with a service ace before Rathbun added a kill of his own. Just a point away from Lasell at 23-22, Wheaton needed to be perfectly clean to earn the win. Lucky for the Lyons, Lloyd stepped up in a historic fashion. The sophomore struck five straight kills for the Lyons to single-handedly pulled the group up from being down 23-24 to set winners at 27-25. 

Wheaton opened up the fourth set by jumping out to a 4-1 lead behind a Rathbun kill. Mitko answered with a kill of his own to help the Lasers back to tying the set at 5-5. Lloyd and Rathbun joined forces to regain the lead by each scoring kills, but Lasell was able to tie it once again at 10-10 thanks to a kill from Barnes. Lasell clearly found their stride as they exploded for a 7-1 scoring run. Wheaton responded with a 6-2 run to keep it close, but Barnes was able to add another kill to keep the Laser's lead. Chiappetta kept the Lyons close with a kill which allowed Lloyd to tie it up at 24-24 with a spike of his own. That would be the last point Wheaton scored in the fourth as the Lasers scored two quick points to take the set 26-24. 

All eyes in Emerson Gym turned to the floor as the fifth and final set began. Wheaton started off trailing 2-1, but quickly roared back to life. Rathbun, Lloyd and Kenyon combined their efforts to regain the lead at 5-3. Rathbun and Lloyd each earned kills at the start of the final frame, while Kenyon slipped a massive service ace past the Lasell defense. Barnes answered with a kill to cut down the Lyons' lead to one, but Lloyd answered back with a kill to keep the home team in front. Their lead would evaporate as the Lasers posted a 6-1 burst, interrupted only briefly by a Chiappetta kill. Leading 11-8, the home team had very little room for error. An attack error by Lasell gave them the inlet the Lyons needed, and Kenyon responded with a kill to keep them in contention. Lasell managed to scrape together two more points to put itself on the edge of match point at 13-10.

Chiappetta dipped into his seemingly bottomless well of energy as he soared over the block to get a kill for the Lyons, which Lloyd repeated to make it 13-12. Lasell scored again to force match point, but Lloyd had a different ending in mind. The sophomore spiked two kills home and took advantage of two Lasell attacking errors to clinch the final set for the Lyons, 16-14. Wheaton hung on to defeat Lasell and earned their first win over a ranked opponent in style.

Wheaton will return to the floor this coming Tuesday as they host Curry College in Emerson Gym at 7:00 p.m. Lasell will head up to the Granite State for a Tuesday evening tie with Rivier University at 7:00 p.m. in Nashua.