Bristol, RI - Rivier College (3-4 overall; 0-0 GNAC) started slow but finished strong to take second place at the Roger Williams University Invitational on Saturday. 

The Raiders dropped the opening match 0-3 to host Roger Williams.  The match featured an epic second set which ended with a score of 33-31 as both teams refused to give up trading athletic plays for long energy draining rally's.  The Hawks took the set as well as the momentum to sweep their opponents.  Junior Danielle Jacques paced the Raider offense with 11 kills followed by senior Lindsay Chace who put down 9 kills.  Sophomore setter Lauren Saccoccio directed the offense with 33 assists and served a team high 4 aces serves.  Sophomore libero Emileigh Cenedella scooped up a team high 20 digs and chipped in with 3 service aces while fellow classmate Caitie Callahan played well with 5 digs. 

Rivier College   0     22  31  19

RWU               3     25  25  25

Rivier bounced back from their only loss of the tourney with a convincing 3-0 sweep over the University of New England in their second match of the day. The Raiders served lights out and played tough defense to take the Nor'easters out of system on offense.  First year player Kenna Finlayson jumped served 11 aces and bombed in 9 kills to lead all Raiders.  Junior Brittni Taylor was on the eights with 8 kills and 8 digs while junior Nicole Rodriguez tallied 8 kills on just 14 swings with no errors.  Senior Becky Gautreau was steady with 8 digs on defense. 

Rivier College   3   25  25  25

UNE                0   17  20  22

In the last match of the day Rivier defeated a tall and very tough NYU Polytechnic in 5 sets.  Rivier struggled to find their energy after the first two matches but battled through the tough stretches and eventually went on to win the 5th set 15-13 after being down 11-6.  Senior Becky Gautreau and sophomores Danielle Stoodley and Emileigh Cenedella showed why they are the best back row in the GNAC as they combined for 45 of the Raiders digs while receiving 70% of the Raiders pass attempts with just 4 errors.  First year player Kenna Finlayson picked up her first double double of her young career with 15 kills and 11 digs while sophomore setter Lauren Saccoccio dished out 51 assists while tallying 9 digs, 3 ace serves, and 2 blocks.  Juniors Nicole Rodriguez and Danielle Jacques put down 16 and 10 kills respectively while senior Lindsay Chace had 8 kills and 2 blocks in the 5 sets. 

Rivier College          3   22  25  20  32  15

NYU Polytechnic    2   25  23  25  30  13

Sophomore libero Emileigh Cenedella and freshman Kenna Finlayson were named to the All Invitational Team for their above average play in the tourney.  Cenedella scooped up 56 digs in 11 sets for a 5.1 digs/set average while Finlayson pounded out 31 kills and 14 aces in the 11 sets for a 2.82 kills/set and a 1.27 aces/set average. 

The Raiders will travel to Southern New Hampshire University on Monday 9/14.  Game time against DII SNHU is 7:00pm.