NEW HAVEN, Conn. (September 12, 2012) – In its 2012 Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) opener, the Rivier University Raiders Women's Volleyball team swept the Albertus Magnus Falcons, 3-0 on Wednesday evening. The Raiders, who were tagged as the preseason favorite for the conference, defeated the Falcons by scores of 25-7, 25-18, and 25-18.

The win pushed Rivier above .500 on the season with a 4-3 overall record and 1-0 in the GNAC. With the loss, the Falcons even their record to 3-3 and fall to 0-1 in GNAC play.

Albertus kept the match close early on in the second and third sets and jumped out in the third to a 5-1 lead. Rivier battled back and after tying the score at 14, the Raiders went on a 7-2 run to take a 21-16 advantage before clinching the match victory with a kill by junior Morgan Peck (Sudbury, MA).

Peck finished the night with eight kills, while classmate Nicole Boucher (Windham, NH) had nine. Freshman Emily O'Reilly (San Francisco, CA) dished out 33 assists for the Raiders in their fourth win of the season. Senior Kenna Finlayson (Derry, NH) knocked down 7 kills in her only set played while frehman Jackie Pisecco (Chelmsford, MA) registered 8 kills in two sets played.

Junior libero Jessica Amaral (East Providence, RI) and freshman Nikki Deluga (Cotuit, MA) each had 13 and 14 digs, respectively.

Freshman Kelsey Pendagast (Milford, Conn.) led the Falcons with four kills in 22 tries, while both Nicole Acerra (East Haven, Conn.) and Krista LaBissoniere (Meriden, Conn.) had a team-high 12 digs. Melissa Manning (Milford, Conn.) added 11 digs for the Falcons as well as three kills.

Albertus returns to action on Thursday, Sept. 13 as the Falcons host Bay Path College in a 7:00 p.m. contest.