Rivier Men’s Volleyball Finishes 3-1 At Baruch Invitational

New York, NY - #8 Rivier College (23-6 overall; 7-0 GNAC) defeated Kean College, Elmira College and Milwaukee School of Engineering in straight sets to improve to 23 wins on the season. The three wins were highlighted with a takedown of #14 MSOE by the scores of 26-24, 25-13, 25-17. The Raiders lone loss of the weekend came at the hands of #10 Carthage College by the scores of 19-25, 15-25, 25-19, 25-27. Senior Jared Andreozzi (Barrington, RI) was named to the All Invitational Team after racking up 58 kills, 20 digs, 11 service aces, and 7 blocks in the tournament.

The Raiders cruised to a quick 3 set win in the first match against Kean University. The talented first year program from New Jersey played hard, but were unable to record key kills on offense as the Raiders amasses 21 digs on defense over the course of the match. Andreozzi paced the offense with 16 kills and only 1 error for a .682 hitting percentage and served a team high 5 aces. Freshman middle hitter Aaron Almario (Alhambra, CA) picked up 4 blocks in the win while junior Drew Corwin (Sudbury, MA) lipped up 5 digs for the Raiders. Setter Steve Visentin (Cheshire, CT)dished out 29 assists.

In the second match on Saturday, the Raiders welcomed the #14 Milwaukee School Of Engineering Red Raiders to the east coast with another 3-0 sweep. Game one was a back and forth battle with Rivier needing 2 separate chance at set point to seal the victory 26-24. After the first set the Raiders of Rivier College settled into a flow and cruised right along to two more wins to take the match by scores of 25-13 and 25-17. Andreozzi once again racked up 16 kills and had a team high 9 digs while sophomore middle hitter Taylor Lindner (Cheshire, CT) added 8 kills. Senior John Furka (Massapequa, NY) put back a team high 5 blocks and added 3 kills with Lindner and Almario each adding 4 blocks. Visentin again put up 29 assists in the win.

Sunday brought a new day and new challenges when the Raiders played #10 Carthage College. Carthage came out on fire and the Raiders passing struggled early, preventing them from running their offense effectively. Rivier dropped the first two sets 25-19, 25-15, but rebounded in set three to make it a match. With the passing coming around and the serving leading the way, the Raiders went on to a 25-19 win in set three to force the match to set 4. Both teams battled in the fourth set, but it was Carthage who found themselves on top 27-25 to take the match and head home with a 4-0 match record on the weekend. Andreozzi dropped a team high 17 kills and 3 aces in the loss while Visentin put up 42 assists. Almario and Furka each recorded 3 blocks and junior libero Chris Convertito (Trumbull, CT) notched 10 digs.

Putting the Carthage match behind them the Raiders refocused and took on Elmira in a rematch of the first match of the season. Rivier won the first match 3-1 and played even better in this one, taking the match 3-0. Although a small hiccup in set two almost extended the match, the Raiders came away with a 27-25 win in the set and cruised in the other two to take the match. All 16 players were able to come off the bench and contribute as the Raiders improved to 23-6 on the season.

Sophomore middle hitter Taylor Lindner had a steady weekend with 31 kills and 8 blocks while senior John Furka was solid at the right pin with 15 kills and 11 blocks. Sophomore setter Steve Visentin averaged 9.69 assists in 13 sets while freshman middle blocker Aaron Almario tallied a team high 18 blocks in just 11 sets. Juniors Chris Convertito and Drew Corwin led all Raider defenders with 23 and 20 digs respectively.

#8 Rivier (3) 25  25  25
Kean       (0) 16  19  21

#8 Rivier    (3) 26  25  25
#14 MSOE  (0) 24  13  17

#8 Rivier         (1) 19  15  25  25
#10 Carthage (3) 25  25  19  27

#8 Rivier (3) 25  27  25
Elmira      (0) 19  25  17

Rivier will return to GNAC play on Tuesday March 1st when the travel to Boston MA to take on Emmanuel College at 8pm. The Raiders will then return home on Wednesday March 2nd for a 7pm match against Lasell College.