LIONS RALLY TO BEAT RAIDERS AND ADVANCE TO CHAMPIONSHIP

BOSTON, Mass. - Top seeded Emerson College rallied from an 0-2 deficit in games to defeat fourth seed Rivier College 3-2 and advance to the Great Northeast Athletic Conference Championship game.  The Lions took the match by scores of 23-25, 21-25, 25-20, 25-18, 15-7.

Rivier built a 12-9 lead in the first game, but Emerson rallied to tie the score at 12 on a kill by Jessica Drumright (So., San Francisco, Calif.).  After Emerson briefly took the lead, Rivier came back to take an 18-15 advantage on a block by Danielle Jacques (Jr., Derry, N.H.).  Emerson tied the match at 20 on a block by Lauren Zaniboni (Jr., San Diego, Calif).  The teams then exchanged points until a kill by Kenna Finlayson (FY, Derry, N.H.) game the Raiders a 24-22 lead.  A kill by Zaniboni brought the Lions back to within one.  Finlayson ended the game with a successful attack.

The second game started with a 5-0 run off service by Emerson's Katie Bailey (So., Calabasas, Calif.).  The Raiders managed to fight back to tie the game at 10, but Emerson pulled back out to a 14-11 lead.  A service error by Emerson opened the door to seven consecutive Raider points, the last coming on an attack by Finlayson.  Emerson pulled to within three points four times, but a blocking error ended the game.

Game three saw the Raiders take a 13-9 lead.  Emerson scored five of the next six points to pull even at 14 on a Rivier attack error.  The teams traded the next five points with the Lions taking a 17-16 lead on an attack by Kelsey Scanlon (FY, Sonoma, Calif.).  A Raider attack error, and an Emerson double hit kept the margin at one, but Drumright hit two consecutive winners to give Emerson a 20-17 advantage.   River pulled back to within one on an Emerson double hit and an attack by Lindsay Chace, (Sr., East Providence, R.I.).  A block by Zaniboni and Drumright, followed by an Erin Connolly (Sr., Quincy, Mass.) winner was too much for the Raiders to overcome and gave the Lions hope.

A similar start to the fourth game saw Rivier take an 11-8 lead.  The Lions scored three straight off an attack error by Rivier and two Scanlon service aces.  A Finlayson kill gave the Raiders a brief lead, and the teams traded points until a Zanibni block gave Emerson a 18-16 advantage.  A winner from Emileigh Cenedella (So., Townsend, Mass.)  brought the score to 18-17, but four consecutive attacks, three by Zaniboni and one by Drumright set the Lions up with a 22-17 advantage.  Two more Zaniboni attacks brought game point, and the Lions took the game on Raider ball handling error.

The fifth game was all Zaniboni.  The 6'2"middle hitter had a kill, four block points, and two service aces.  Emerson built an 11-4 lead and never looked back to advance to the championship game.

Emerson (29-6) will host second seeded Johnson & Wales University in Saturday's Championship match at the Brown-Plofker Gym at 1:00pm.  Rivier concludes its GNAC season at 21-13.