Rivier Downs Nighthawks in Straight Sets

Nashua, NH – The Rivier College men's volleyball team came out fired up and ready to play against non-conference foe Newbury College tonight and took the match in 3 straight sets for their 20th victory of the season. The Raiders capitalized on 39 Newbury errors and served a season high 12 ace serves on their way to the 3-0 victory. The win improves the Raiders to 20-5 on the season while the Nighthawks fall to 12-7.

The Raiders built a quick 11-3 lead following 3 straight service aces from senior outside hitter Jared Andreozzi (Barrington, RI) and cruised to a 25-15 win capped off by a Newbury service error. The Raiders knocked down 10 kills with just 2 hitting errors for a .381 percentage and laced in 6 aces to open the match.

Set two started much closer as the teams mostly traded points until the score was 11-10 in favor of Newbury when Rivier freshman middle hitter Aaron Almario (Alhambra, CA) went back to the service line and helped pick up 5 straight points for the Raiders, two digs that led two kills and 3 straight hitting errors on the part of Newbury forced a Nighthawks timeout so they could regroup and gain a sideout. The Raiders maintained a 3-4 point lead until senior John Furka (Massapequa, NY) went on a 4 point service run of his own including an ace and a big blocks by the Raiders front row. With a comfortable 23-15 lead, the Raiders went on to seal the win 25-18 after a service error by Newbury to end the set.

In the third and final set, the Raiders went on 4 different service runs of at least 3 points to create distance between themselves and the Nighthawks. The raiders built an 8-5 lead only to see it vanish after Danny Tiner (Salem, NH) rattled off 3 straight points for the Nighthawks with an ace and a kill by Max Daley (Cranston, RI), but Furka gained the advantage right back as a service ace and two Danny Kim hitting errors (Plainview, NY) gave the Raiders a 12-8 advantage. The Raiders extended the lead to 22-14 after a kill from Furka and a block by Alex Xenidis (Shelton, CT) before Daley could stop the bleeding for Newbury. A kill by Furka followed by a service ace by Furka pushed the score to 24-16 in favor of the Raiders and gave them set and match point. A kill by Daley and two kills by Kim brought the Nighthawks back to 24-19 before freshman setter Cameron Walker finished the game with a kill on the second ball to finish the set 25-19 and give the Raiders a 3-0 win in the match.

Rivier's Jared Andreozzi led all attackers with 10 kills and picked up 4 service aces and 2 digs in the win. John Furka added 5 kills and a match high 5 service aces. Middle hitter Taylor Lindner (Cheshire, CT) slammed in 6 kills with no errors on 10 attempts for a .600 hitting percentage while freshman Almario chipped in with 4 kills and a .500 hitting percentage. Defensive specialist Drew Corwin (Sudbury, MA) scooped up a team high 7 digs while libero Chris Convertito (Trumbull, CT) lipped up 4.  Setter Steve Visentin (Cheshire, CT) dished out 28 assists.

Newbury was led offensively by Max Daley who registered 6 kills and had 2 blocks. Danny Kim picked up 5 kills while Chris Espinola (Derry, NH) added 4 of his own. Libero Michael Biuso (South Setauket, NY) registered a team high 6 digs and Alex Amylon (Scituate, RI) chipped in with 4 digs.  Setter Matt Talamantes (Los Angeles, CA) tossed up 18 assists in the set back for the Nighthawks.

The Raiders will travel to Baruch College in Brooklyn, NY this weekend to play 4 matches at the Baruch Invitational on Saturday and Sunday. Newbury will be traveling to the same tournament, but the two teams will not face each other during the two days. Rivier will start the weekend against Kean University, a first year program out of New Jersey while the Nighthawks will take on Philadelphia Biblical University in their opening match.