Mahwah New Jersey - No-6 ranked Rivier College (6-0
overall; 1-0 GNAC) defeated two nationally ranked teams and one
Division I team to extend their early season win streak to six
games. The Raiders opened up the quad weekend with a 3-0
sweep over host No-11 Ramapo College. RIV then went on to
defeat No-10 Philadelphia Biblical University 3-1 followed by a
gritty 3-2 win over Division 1 Sacred Heart University.
In the opening match RIV came out smoking with a high octane
offense and a stingy defense to stymie the young Ramapo
squad. The visitors hit for a .453 percentage on offense
while tallying 13 team blocks and 21 team digs for the match.
Junior outside hitter Jared Andreozzi (Barrington,
RI) put down a match high 20 kills while hitting for a .592 clip
and senior Matt Ferreira (Lincoln,
RI) followed with 10 kills and a .500 hitting
percentage. Senior setter Zach Hansendished
out 39 assists while running the offense and combined with Ferreira
for 7 of the Raiders 13 blocks. Freshmen Taylor
Lindner (Cheshire, CT) and Steve Visentin
(Cheshire, CT) combined for 11 kills.
Against PBU the Blue and Gray struggled to find their block and
relied on their floor defense as well as some good energy from
their bench to pick up the win. Zach Hansen
registered a double double with 59 assists and 15 digs to lead
the Raiders. The back court trio of Kyle O'Neill
(Long Beach, NY), Drew Corwin (Sudbury,
MA) and Andreozzi combined for 24 digs while
Andreozzi led the Raider offense with 25 kills and a .512 hitting
percentage. In just two sets Ferreira put down 12 kills on 19
attempts with just 2 errors for a .526 hitting percentage.
Taylor Lindner came up big once again with 13 kills and 2 blocks
while Steve Wood (Rochester, NY), Francis
Dallatore (Wilmington, DE), and Alex Xenidis
(Shelton, CT) made set and game changing
contributions off the bench.
In the final match of the quad RIV had to dig deep and battle
for the win over SHU. Junior John Furka (Massapequa,
NY) went off. The 6'3 opposite bombed in 19
kills on 23 attempts with just 2 errors for a .739 hitting
percentage. Furka also blocked well with 3 put backs.
Middle hitters Alex Xenidis (Shelton, CT) and
Taylor Lindner were solid at the net with a combined 27 kills and 6
blocks while Jared Andreozzi led all Raiders with 24 kills.
Zach Hansen once again was the key with 65 assists and 4 blocks
while Chris Convertito (Shelton, CT) passed
well all match and Andrew Paine (Quincy,
MA) came off the bench to add some big plays.
#6 Rivier
College
3 30 30
30
#11 Ramapo
College
0 20 25 24
#6 Rivier
College
3 30 33
27 30
#10 Philadelphia Biblical University
1 28 31
30 21
#6 Rivier
College
3 31 27
30 23 15
Sacred Heart University (Division I)
2 29 30
24 30 10
The Raiders will host a GNAC double header on Wednesday
1/27. Emerson College will come to The Muldoon for a 6pm
match followed by Mt Ida College immediately after.
