BOSTON, Mass. – The Rivier men's volleyball team downed Emmanuel (Mass.) in straight sets before falling to the host school, Emerson, in a Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) tri-match on Saturday afternoon at Brown & Plofker Gym.
With the split, the Raiders concluded their regular season with an 11-16 (6-8 GNAC) record. All three teams that participated in the tri-match have qualified for the GNAC Tournament, with the Saints earning the third seed, the Raiders receiving the fifth seed, and the Lions securing the sixth seed.
Rivier will head south on Tuesday, April 8 to face Regis (Mass.) the GNAC Quarterfinals with a 7:00 p.m. first serve from Higgins Court.
Rivier 3, Emmanuel (Mass.) 0
The Raiders were victorious over the Saints by set scores of 25-21, 26-24, 25-22 as junior Matthew McCloskey paced the offense with 16 kills, hitting at a .367 clip.
First-year Cody Fitzpatrick recorded 10 kills, hitting .304, and eight digs. Classmate Cade Barron dished out 31 assists in the victory.
Emerson 3, Rivier 1
Rivier was unable to overcome a 2-0 match deficit despite a third set victory to drop the final match of the afternoon by scores of 27-29, 19-25, 25-23, 27-29.
Senior Bassam Awde had eight kills at a .545 clip while junior Matthew McCloskey continued his impressive afternoon, notching a team-high 11 kills, producing a .360 hitting percentage. First-year Nilson Perez came in off the bench and passed out 25 assists in the outing.
