Raiders Hold On Against Ramapo And Sweep Lesley, Andreozzi Set All Time Kills Record

Nashua, NH - #8 Rivier College (4-0 GNAC) improved to 18-5 on the season with a pair of wins against Ramapo College and Lesley University. In the first match of the day senior Jared Andreozzi recorded a double double to pace the Raiders over the Ramapo Roadrunners in a tight 3-2 victory. The 6'4 outside hitter put down 25 kills and scooped up 10 digs while also dialing up 2 ace serves and 2 blocks. His 1541 kills makes him the all time leader for Rivier in a career.

The match was a battle from start to finish with a total of 36 tie scores and 9 lead changes. Rivier had a 15-13 advantage in set one before Rivier senior opposite John Furka went on a 7 point service run to give the Raiders a little breathing room. The Raiders closed the set out 25-18 after an Andrew Balint service error.

Set two saw Rivier build a 4 point lead at 11-7 only to have Balint go on a 4 point service run for the Roadrunners to tie the game at 11. Rivier setter Steve Visentin went on a 4 point run of his own to push the Raiders ahead again at 16-12, but after a few sideouts by both teams Ramapo junior Colin McNeill rattled off 6 straight points which included 3 Rivier hitting errors and one ace to put the Roadrunners on top 17-15. After a back and forth battle over the next couple points the Roadrunners held a 23-20 advantage, but a 3 point run by the Raiders, including two kills and a block by Andreozzi, tied the game at 23. After a kill by Andrew Brown to give Ramapo a 26-25 lead an attack error by Furka ended the set with the Roadrunners on top 27-25.

McNeill went on another 5 point service run in set three to give Ramapo a 17-14 lead, but the Raiders chipped away and got multiple points from 4 of the next 6 servers to pull in front and come away with a 25-23 win. The fourth set was in favor of Ramapo from start to finish. Even though Rivier tied the set at 16-16, they never quite got comfortable. Paul Konopacki and Jeff Jones each recorded 4 kills and the Roadrunners hit .294 as a team to take a 25-21 win and force a 5th set tie breaker.

The deciding set was once again a tough battle, with each team matching the other point for point and Rivier taking an 8-7 lead at the side switch. A Kill by Rivier's Taylor Lindner on the next play gave the Raiders a 9-7 advantage, but was instantly nullified after Andreozzi was blocked by McNeill an Konopacki two plays later to tie the game at 9-9. A service error by Balint and an attack error by McNeill on back to back plays gave the Raiders their two point advantage back and a kill by Lindner pushed the score to 12-9 and the Raiders were able to trade points until game point when Lindner served at 14-11 and a huge solo block by Furka ended the set and the match with the Raiders on top 3-2.

Rivier setter Steve Visentin dished out 55 assists while serving a match high 3 ace serves. The sophomore also tallied 5 digs and 3 blocks. Sophomore middle hitter Taylor Lindner and senior opposite hitter John Furka both registered 10 kills and 3 blocks and junior defensive player Andrew Paine had a team high 11 digs. Junior's Drew Corwin and Chris Convertito combined for 14 digs and freshman Aaron Almario had a match high 6 blocks.

Ramapo was led by freshman outside hitter Jeff Jones who notched a team high 22 kills and added 1 block. Teammate Paul Konopacki added 13 kills and a team high 5 blocks and Andrew Brown chipped in with 10 kills. Setter Andrew Balint had 56 assists and libero Kevin McNerney lipped up a game high 15 digs.

The second match of the day pitted Ramapo against Lesley University. Ramapo controlled most of the match, taking the first two sets by scores of 25-17 and 25-16. Set three proved interesting as the Roadrunners had a match high 12 hitting errors and allowed the Lynx to stay close. Ramapo ended up pulling out the set and match with a 29-27 win.

Jeff Jones led the Roadrunners with 12 kills and just 2 errors for a .500 hitting percentage and freshman Brian Colabella added 9 kills in the win. Setter Mike Hrehovcik dished out 32 assists and three Ramapo players each picked up 5 digs.

Lesley was led by senior Zach Almeida-Beers who picked up 6 kills and 6 blocks in the loss. Max Hoevenaar added 4 kills while the setting tandem of William Lau and Stephen Siragusa combined for 17 assists.

The final match of the day featured Rivier taking on Lesley and Rivier carried the momentum of their first match victory into match two and swept Lesley University 3-0 for their 18th win of the season. It's was the Raiders first year players making the difference in this 25-19, 25-15, 25-20 victory. Opposite hitter Steve Coulson stuffed the stat sheet with 11 kills, 7 digs, 3 assists, and 3 ace serves while middle hitter Terry Matatall was solid with 7 kills, 5 digs and 2 blocks. Setter Cameron Walker registered 38 assists along with 4 blocks, 6 digs, 5 kills and outside hitter Sam Kazlas scored a match high 14 kills. Outside hitter Dan Elitharp and middle hitter Aaron Almario chipped in with 4 kills and 4 blocks respectively as libero Alex Wezelis was solid on receive and on defense.

Zach Almeida-Beers and William Lau each contributed 5 kills and Christian Domingo added 4 of his own. Almeida-Beers added 9 digs to lead all defenders.

#8 Rivier  (3)  25  25  25  21  15
Ramapo   (2)  18  27  23  25  11

Ramapo (3)  25  25  29
Lesley    (0)  17  16  27

#8 Rivier  (3)  25  25  25
Lesley      (0)  19  15  20

The Raiders return to GNAC action on Monday 2/21 with a 6:00pm match at Lasell College.