NASHUA, N.H. – The Rivier men's volleyball team downed Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) opponent Dean in straight sets Thursday evening at the Muldoon Center.

With the win the Raiders cap off their regular season with a 13-11 (5-2 GNAC) record, while the Bulldogs fell to 6-18 (0-7 GNAC).

HOW IT HAPPENED

• Dean controlled the early stages, using a strong service run to build a 10-5 lead and later extending it to 17-11. Rivier slowly chipped away behind kills from sophomore Cade Barron and senior Bassam Awde, while also taking advantage of a few Dean errors to stay within reach. Trailing 21-16, the Raiders put together their best stretch of the set, capitalizing on miscues and getting a key ace from Awde to tie it at 21-21. From there, senior Matthew McCloskey delivered back-to-back kills to give Rivier its first lead of the set. Junior Tyler Dickinson and junior Justin Barish closed it out to complete with back-to-back kills, completing the comeback.
• Dean once again came out strong, jumping ahead 10-4 and holding control through a 16-11 lead. The Raiders responded with a steady push, led by a five-point service run from first-year Everett Boyer. A kill off the hand of first-year Kenji Clark gave Rivier the lead, and the momentum stayed on their side from there, with the help of two kills from sophomore James Levesque. A service ace from Clark and a block from Barish helped create separation late as the Raiders closed out the set, 25-20.
• Rivier took control immediately in the third, opening on a 5-0 run behind sophomore Cody Fitzpatrick's serving and multiple Dean errors. The lead quickly grew to 10-3 as junior Kody Sodoyer and Levesque contributed offensively while the Raiders controlled the net. Dean trimmed the deficit to 15-10 with a short run, but Rivier answered right away with a kill from Dickinson. The Raiders closed out the set, as Sodoyer finished the match with a kill to complete the sweep, 25-15.

BOX SCORE BREAKDOWN

• McCloskey paced the offense with eight kills and a .500 hitting percentage, followed by Dickinson with seven kills and Levesque with six kills and a .500 hitting percentage.
• Barish dished out 27 assists in the win.
• Defensively, first-year Luis Cruz led the team with eight digs, followed by Barish with seven and Clark with six.

UP NEXT
The Raiders wait to find out their opponent for Tuesday's GNAC Quarterfinal matchup.