Raiders Finish 2-1 at Western New York Invitational

Rochester/Buffalo, NY
No-6 Rivier College (22-6 overall; 9-1 GNAC) defeated a pair of top 15 teams to improve their overall record to 22-6 for the year.  The Raiders jumped off the 7 hour bus ride to Rochester and took on # 15 Nazareth College on Friday evening in their opening match of the weekend.  Jared Andreozzi and Matt Ferreira carried the load for RIV as both hit for a .500 hitting percentage while tallying 20 and 14 kills respectively along with 4 blocks apiece.  Zack Hansen made his mark across the stat sheet with match highs in assists (42) and service aces (7) while picking up 4 kills, 4 digs, and 3 blocks.  Kyle O'Neill and Taylor Lindner had a team high 11 digs and 7 blocks respectively.

Rivier then traveled to Buffalo for Day 2 of The Invitational and started of with a 5 set setback to Newbury College.  Zach Hansen registered a double double with a team high 53 assists and a team high 13 digs.  Taylor Lindner once again led all blockers with a team high 8 blocks and also put down 16 kills while Drew Corwin played well with 9 kills with just 3 errors for a .333 hitting percentage.  Corwin also registered 9 digs, 3 blocks and 2 service aces for a solid all around match. 

The Raiders then bounced back with a 5 set victory of their own against host #8 Medaille College.  Rivier dropped the first set and narrowly missed winning the second set before putting it together to storm back with three straights set wins for a 5 set thriller of a victory. Zach Hansen, Jared Andreozzi, and Matt Ferreira all registered double doubles on the match.  Hansen tallied 51 assists and 12 digs while Andreozzi put down 24 kills and picked up 10 digs.  Ferreira had a monster blocking game with 14 blocks along with 11 kills.   Taylor Lindner wrapped up a well played tourney with a 14 kill, .520 hitting percentage, and 7 block performance while Alex Xenidis stepped in with a solid 10 kill - 5 block showing of his own.  Andrew Paine and Jamison Chue made significant contributions with precision serving and solid passing while Steve Visentin and Drew Corwin combined for 18 digs. 

#6 Rivier College               3        28  30  30  30
#15 Nazareth College        1        30  19  21  27

#6 Rivier College              2        20  39  28  30  6
Newbury College              3        30  37  30  23  15

#6 Rivier College              3        28  33  30  30  15
#8 Medaille College           2        30  35  25  25  13

Rivier will travel to Newton MA for a 7:00pm GNAC match against Lasell College on Tuesday 3/9.