The Suffolk women’s volleyball team collected their fifth win of the season Thursday after defeating Lasell University in a matchup that went five sets. 

“They pulled it out at the end,” Suffolk women’s volleyball coach Scott Blanchard said. “They were a little up and down. We had some good spots, there were some bad spots.”

The match was a seesaw battle between the two teams after the Rams narrowly won the first set by a 26-24 margin.

Lasell then won the second set 25-14 before Suffolk flipped that total in the third set, winning 25-14. After a strong start to the fourth set, the Rams faded late and lost the set 25-19, sending the match to a deciding fifth set.

The Rams ran away with the fifth set after an early lead and eventually secured victory with a 15-6 total in their favor.

The match was only the second home game for the women’s volleyball team this season and featured a lively crowd throughout the match.

Sophomore Jasmine James had a strong game for the Rams as an outside hitter. James said that she credits a lot of her and her team’s aggressiveness in the match to the energy in the gym.

“When the gym is pumped up, then we’re pumped up, then the bench is pumped up, then the coaches are pumped up,” James said. “I think when we’re being aggressive the pressure’s on, so we do better that way.”

Senior Chryssabella Jones-Craig, who plays middle blocker on the team, said the difference is really stark between last season and this season.

“This is going to sound so cliché, but it’s sort of like a nature is healing kind of thing,” Jones-Craig said. “We’re getting back into the rhythm of what it’s like to play in gyms that are really loud. You go from playing gyms that are silent outside of your team and you carry all of the responsibility of having the energy.”

Suffolk followed up the win over Lasell with a loss to Eastern Nazarene College in three sets on Saturday.

Follow James on Twitter @James_bartlett8