CENEDELLA REACHES MAJOR MILESTONE WITH 1000th DIG
Nashua, NH - The Rivier College Raiders defeated the UMass-Dartmouth Corsairs 3-1 tonight in non-conference women's volleyball action. Rivier's junior libero Emileigh Cenedella (Townsend, MA) recorded her 1000th career dig during the fourth set of play as the Raiders had their struggles with the talented Carsairs team. Cenedella finished the match with a team high 19 digs.
The Raiders were twice up by 4 points in the first set, but both times they gave the lead right back with untimely serving mistakes and hitting errors. UMass-Dartmouth took the first set 25-23, hitting .176 as a team to the Raiders .111. Set two saw the Raiders push right back and tie the match 1-1. The Raiders hit a match high .346 as a team, knocking down 14 kills and recording 4 service aces as Rivier won 25-18. In the third set the Raiders hitting came back down to earth and the Corsairs hitting stepped up. Both teams had 12 kills in the third set, but the difference in the game came down to serving and blocking. The Raiders picked up 1 more service ace and 1 more block in the set, which proved to be the difference as the Raiders won 25-23 in the set and take a 2-1 advantage in the match. The fourth and deciding set came completely down to serving and blocking as the Raiders picked up 3 blocks and 3 service aces to go along with their 11 kills to win the game 25-19 and take the match 3-1.
Rivier's Kenna Finlayson(Derry, NH) led the Raider offense with 18 kills and only 5 errors for a .310 hitting percentage. She also scooped up 6 digs and added 1 block in the victory. Freshman Nicole Peacock (Warwick, RI) tallied 10 kills of her own, recording a .368 hitting percentage. Setter Lauren Saccoccio (Warwick, RI) dished out 40 assists on the night and added 7 digs while Cenedella racked up a team high 19 digs and 4 service aces.
The Corsairs were led by junior Allie Mastrocola (Swansea, MA), who had a team high 15 kills and added 1 ace and 5 digs. Cami Ascher (Natick, MA) added 10 kills and Shannon Brodie (Chelmsford, MA) had a team high 14 digs for the Corsairs. Setter Jessica Goncalves (New Bedford, MA) racked up 34 assists in the set back.
The Raiders, who improve to 19-10 overall will host a GNAC tri-match as they welcome St. Joseph's College (ME) and Mount Ida College this Saturday in the final weekend of regular season play. UMass-Dartmouth (21-8) will travel to Danbury, CT on the same day for their final weekend of play in a tri-match against Western Connecticut State and John Jay.
