(Cambridge, MA) The Rivier University Men's Volleyball team swept their way to victory at the MIT Invitational by defeating York, Endicott and MIT (3-0, 3-1, 3-2 respectively) as they were crowned Invitational Champions. The Raiders were led by tournament MVP senior Steve Visentin (Cheshire, Conn.) and sophomore Chris Markuson (Cupertino, Calif.) who was named to the All-Tournament Team.

Rivier easily handled York taking the match 3-0. The Raiders were paced by Visentin's 29 assists and junior Terence Matatall (Danville, NH) added a team high 10 kills. In the first game Rivier got the easy 25-15 victory. York battled back but lost the second game 25-19. The Raiders proved to be too much taking the third game 25-16.

The Endicott Gulls were Rivier's next opponent and were defeated 3-1 by the nationally ranked Raiders. Rivier lost the first game of the match 25-23 but rallied behind 13 kills from Markuson and a team high 12 digs from sophomore Shane Spellman (Norwich, Conn.) to win the next three games (25-22, 25-18 and 25-19). Spellman also contributed 8 kills in the match and junior Matt Bynon (Burnt Hills, NY) added 11 digs of his own.

In their final match of the tournament, the Raiders were taken to a decisive game 5 by the #15 nationally ranked MIT Engineers. Chris Markuson led the Raider's offense with 23 kills and 8 digs and Matt Bynon added a team high 14 digs. Junior Daniel Elitharp (Eastport, NY) came off the bench to contribute another 13 digs. The Raiders dropped the first game 21-25 but rallied to take the next two games 25-23 and 25-16 respectively. MIT tied the match at 2 by winning the fourth game 25-20 but the Engineers ultimately fell in the decisive fifth game. The Raiders won the final game 15-13 and with the victory took the tournament title.

With the victories Rivier improves to 6-3 on the season and returns back to action at home on Wednesday, February 20 at 7pm against Emmanuel College.