Nashua, NH - Coming off their first loss of the season, the #5
Rivier College Raiders took care of business tonight against GNAC
foe Emmanuel College in straight sets, 30-23, 30-24, 30-23.
In all three sets, the Raiders jumped out to early leads and were
able to fend off any charges by the visiting Saints while
maintaining a lead.
Once again, it was the play of the middles that set Rivier apart
from Emmanuel as Taylor Lindner (Cheshire, CT) and
Matt Ferreira (Lincoln, RI) were all but
unstoppable on offense. Lindner finished the match with 11
kills, with only 1 error, on 16 swings for a team high .625 hitting
percentage while also picking up a team high 5 blocks.
Ferreira was not far behind with 10 kills, 2 errors on 19 swings
for a .421 hitting percentage and 2 blocks.
Raider outside hitter Jared Androezzi (Barrington,
RI), like he has been all season, was the go to hitter for
setter Zach Hansen (Shelton, CT). Andreozzi
led the Raiders with 16 kills on 31 swings with just 5
errors. Meanwhile, Hansen dished out 44 assists, averaging
14.7 per set, almost 2 more assists per set than his season average
and served a team high 4 aces.
Junior Steve Wood (Rochester, NY) came off the
bench in set 2 to give the Raiders another level of play as he got
3 quick kills in the final 10 points of the game for the
Raiders. Wood then started game 3 and gave the Raiders some
much needed solid passing and defense as he tallied 7 digs to push
the home team to victory. Libero Kyle O'Neill (Long
Island, NY) and defensive specialist Drew Corwin
(Sudbury, MA) combined for 12 digs while Steve
Visentin (Cheshire, CT) went 8 for 8 on serve
receive.
Emmanuel was led by a trio of pin hitters as Michael Townsend
(Beaverdam, VA), Curtis Abram (San Luis Obispo, CA) and Tyson Rietz
(Granite Bay, CA) all gave the Saints a lift at different
times. Abram was able to serve a number of jump serves in
both games 2 and 3 that gave the Saints life and brought the team
to within striking distance before the Raiders were able to finish
them off.
The Raiders will travel to New Haven, CT to take on another
conference opponent in Albertus Magnus College on Sunday, Feb.
7th. The Raiders will play 2 matches against the
home team on the day with match 1 starting at 1:00 PM.
