EASTON, Pa. - The Lafayette volleyball team dropped its season opener to La Salle 3-0 (25-15, 25-10, 25-10) on Tuesday night at the Kirby Sports Center.

Sophomore Sonia Musso led the attack for the Leopards with a team-high eight kills on the night. Freshman Maria Balus tallied nine assists in her first collegiate game, while Katie Kidder recorded seven digs.

The first set was a back-and-forth scoring affair between the Leopards and the Explorers as the two teams traded points for the first few minutes. However, a 3-0 run by La Salle forced Lafayette to call its first timeout.

Immediately after the break, Musso received a ball from Howard and she buried it to cut the deficit to three. However, that was as close as the Leopards would get to the Explorers in the first set as La Salle quickly responded with a 10-2 run to jump out to an 11-point advantage. The Leopards were able to put five more points on the board after a couple of La Salle errors and a pair of kills by Musso, but ultimately the Explorers took the opening set, 25-15.

Musso continued to hit the ball well and in the second set, she recorded back-to-back kills to give Lafayette an early 6-5 lead. The Explorers once again countered though with a big run. After nine straight points, La Salle began to pull away. The Explorers went on to outscore Lafayette 11-4, with two of those final four points for the Leopards coming from junior Tori Smith.

The Explorers took a 4-0 lead to start the third set, but the Leopards were able to hang close. Following a Kelly Flynn kill, Lafayette trailed by just three. However, the Explorers lead grew to 12 after a 12-3 run. The Leopards picked up two more points in the set and eventually fell 25-10.

Lafayette will return to action on Friday as Fairleigh Dickinson University travels to Easton, Pa. for a non-conference match slated for 7 p.m.