(Beverly, Mass.) The Rivier University Women's Volleyball team finished off the 2017 regular season this afternoon with a non-conference tri-match split at Endicott College. The Raiders won their opening game against Eastern Nazarene College in straight sets before falling the host Gulls, 3-0.
Rivier, who will enter the Great Northeast Athletic Conference Tournament as the overall #3 seed, finished the regular season with a 19-11 record. They will host #6 Saint Joseph's College (Me.) on Tuesday night at the Muldoon Gymnasium in GNAC Quarterfinal action.
Game One: Rivier University 3, Eastern Nazarene College 0 (Final)
Rivier earned their 19th win of the regular season by sets scores of 25-18, 27-25 and 30-28.
Sophomore sensation Taylor Dunster (Sutton, Mass.) hammered down 17-kills while freshman Jillian Rabasco (Nashua, N.H.) added 12-kills and a .346 hitting percentage to bolster the Raider offense. Freshman setter Katherine Antczak (Salem, N.H.) directed the offense with a career-high 43 assists and senior Madison Soucy (Tolland, Conn.) collected 17 digs in the win. Senior Alex Trevains (Litchfield, N.H.) also had a solid game as she recorded a hitting percentage of .417 while knocking down five kills.
The Lions (11-18) were paced by Courtney McCarthy's 12-kill effort with Kayla Dean picking up 24 assists. Oksana Dicamillo and Madisen Robinson each accumulated 15 & 10 digs, respectively, on the defensive end for Easter Nazarene.
Game Two: Endicott College 3, Rivier University 0 (Final)
In the season's final contest, the Raiders fell to Endicott by set scores of 25-10, 25-16 and 25-17.
Dunster was once again the team's leading attacker as she had six kills and Rabasco added four. Antczak dished out 18 assists with senior Bethany Trevino (Westminster, Colo.) controlling the backline with six digs. Sophomore Jess Whyte (Plymouth, Mass.) had a solid nightcap with thee kills, four digs and one total block.
Endicott, who improved to 19-9, was led by Emma Mancini's 12-kill, .435 hitting percentage afternoon with Lauren Sheehan providing addition support with 8-kills and a .389 hitting percentage. Zoey Gifford had 31 assists and Cindy Pierce scooped up 10 digs. The story was along the net defensively for the Gulls as they totaled 16 blocks led by Nicole Winkler's six total blocks in the win.
