Women's Volleyball: Raiders split tri-match with SJM & Bates

NASHUA, N.H. – The Rivier University Women's Volleyball team went 1-1 on the day as they hosted a tri-match inside the Muldoon Gymnasium on Saturday afternoon. The Raiders took care of business in the opening game; defeating visiting Saint Joseph's College (Maine) in three sets for their first Great Northeast Athletic Conference win of the season. In the final match of the day, the Raiders fell to visiting Bates College in straight sets as Bates went 2-0 (they downed Saint Joseph's in three sets as well).

Game One: Rivier University 3, Saint Joseph's College 0 (Final)

Rivier earned their opening conference game of the season by set scores of 25-13, 25-9 and 25-19.

Senior Taylor Dunster (Sutton, Mass.) led the charge offensively as she hammered down a game-high 11 kills while collecting six service aces and scooping up eight digs. Sophomore Sydney Racevicius (Woodbury, Conn.) added ten kills in the win as senior Jess Whyte (Plymouth, Mass.) chipped in with six kills and a .545 hitting percentage. Sophomore setter Avery Pollard (Ballston Lake, N.Y.) dished out 35 assists in the opener and freshman libero Olivia Garand (Litchfield, N.H.) picked up 10 digs along the back line. Senior Sunny Foglia (Remsenburg, N.Y.) added a block solo and a kill in the team's 16th consecutive win over the Monks dating back to the 2005 season.

Saint Joseph's was guided by sophomore Oliva Kent (Ellington, Ohio), who had a team-high six kills. Sophomore Sarah Quinn (Dover, N.H.) and junior Erin Olson (Stoughton, Mass.) each added three kills for the visitors with Hannah Holden handing out 10 helpers. Junior Madison Provencher (Rochester, N.H.) was the dig leader for the contest as she collected 12 digs in the loss.

Game Two: Bates College 3, Saint Joseph's College (Maine) 0 (Final)

The Bobcats began their afternoon with a clean three set sweep of Saint Joseph's College by set scores of 25-18, 25-16 and 25-9.

Junior Olivia McCulloch (Sunderland, Mass.) led the way for Bates as she totaled seven kills while senior Taylor Stafford-Smith (Calabasas, Calif.) added six kills in the win. Both senior Julia Panepinto (Buffalo, N.Y.) and freshman Emma Eide (Ramsey, N.J.) each had 17 assists to direct the offense and senior Gabi Eustache (New York, N.Y.) picked up16 digs. Along the net, junior Angel Echipue (Munich, Germany) finished with four total blocks to guide the Bobcats to victory.

Olsen and Kent led the way for the Monks as they had four kills each and Holden passed out eight assists. Quinn finished with 12 digs along the back line and Bailey Gryskwicz added seven digs in the loss.

Saint Joseph's falls to 0-10 on the season and 0-1 in the conference after the pair of setbacks this afternoon and will return to action on Thursday night as they travel to the University of Southern Maine for a 7pm contest.

Game Three: Bates College 3, Rivier University 0 (Final)

In the day's final contest, the Bobcats were able to top the Raiders by set scores of 25-21, 25-21 and 25-23.

For Rivier, Dunster once again led the offensive effort as she led the team with 13 kills while also leading the defensive effort with 16 digs. Whyte added 10 kills and a block solo while Racevicius finished with eight kills and ten digs. Pollard directed the offense with 38 assists and helped defensively with 11 digs. Junior Julia Zargaj (Groveland, Mass.) added seven kills and block solo in defeat for the Raiders.

Bates saw sophomore Sydney Phillips (Wrentham, Mass.) led the way with 10 kills and a .375 hitting percentage along with Echipue, who collected nine winners and a .500 hitting percentage. Panepinto totaled 19 assists while Eustache and McCulloch scooped up 14 and 10 digs, respectively. Junior Ruby Lightbourn (Los Angeles, Calif.) also reached double-figures with 10 digs in the win for the Bobcats.

Rivier, now 6-5 overall and 1-0 in GNAC action, will return to the court on Wednesday night as they host Eastern Nazarene College in a 7pm non-conference contest inside the Muldoon Gymnasium. Bates will return to play on Tuesday night as they also travel to the University of Southern Maine for a 7pm non-conference affair.