Live Free or Die Invitational - Day One Recap and Results

Game One: Baruch College 3, Rivier University 1 (Final)

Game Two: Baruch College 3, Endicott College 1 (Final)

Game Three: Rivier University 3, Endicott College 0 (Final)

(Nashua, NH) The Rivier University Men's Volleyball team opened the 2013 Season this afternoon by being the co-hosts of the inaugural 'Live Free or Die Invitational' along with Daniel Webster. The Raiders, who are pre-season favorites to win the Great Northeast Athletic Conference title and ranked #7 in the AVCA pre-season poll, fell to #15 Baruch College in four games before sweeping Endicott College in the nightcap.

Game One: #13 Baruch College 3, #7 Rivier University 1

Baruch College came out of the gate flying and never looked back as they captured victory in the first game against the hosts, 3-1 (25-19, 25-19, 22-25, 25-15).

Three different Bearcats reached double figures in kills. Senior Martin Joksimovik (Skopje, Macedonia) led the way as he totaled 12 on his way to a .478 hitting percentage. Juniors Steven Coniglio (Old Bethpage, NY) and Jack McKee (Bay Shore, NY) contributed 11 each as Coniglio recorded a .474 hitting percentage. Freshman Scott Standring (Moraga, CA) added 42 assists – a game high – and sophomore Taylor Higgs (Antioch, CA) finished with 10 digs.

Rivier saw two of their student-athletes hit the double-digit plateau in kills as both sophomores Shane Spellman (Norwich, CT) and Chris Markuson (Cupertino, CA) had 10 each. Junior Aaron Almario (Alhambria, CA) totaled 8 kills in the loss. Also shining bright for the Raiders was senior setter Steve Visentin (Cheshire, CT), who had 29 assists and 11 digs, and junior libero Matt Bynon (Burnt Hills, NY) who also had 11 digs.

Game Two: #13 Baruch College 3, Endicott College 1

The Bearcats remained hot in their second game as they cruised to a 2-0 advantage over Endicott College. However, the Gulls would not go down without a fight as they took the third set and forced extra points in the fourth. Baruch ultimately took the four sets by scores of 25-15, 25-20, 25-18 and 26-24.

Once again Joksimovik paced the offensive attack as he totaled 11 kills and a .474 hitting percentage. Standring had an impressive offensive night as he recorded a .714 hitting percentage (5 kills) and 34 assists. Higgs and sophomore Chris Kaimis (Dix Hills, NY) registered 7 digs apiece to lead the defensive effort.

Endicott received a solid offensive effort from junior Josh Anderson (La Canada, CA). Anderson came off the bench and recorded 12 kills to go along with a .308 hitting percentage. Both Tyler Bacon and Aaron Jessee reached double-digits in assists as they combined for 32 of the team's 37. Jessee had 20 and Bacon had 12. Jessee also finished with 10 digs in the loss.

Game Three: Rivier University 3, Endicott College 0

After taking some time to let the first loss of the season sink in, the Rivier University Raiders stormed their way to an impressive 3-0 victory over Endicott with scores of 25-18, 25-9 and 25-17.

Markuson, the 2012 Great Northeast Athletic Conference Player and Rookie of Year, came out swinging as he registered a .583 hitting percentage to lead the team with 8 kills. Spellman and Almario recorded 5 kills each while junior Sam Kazlas (Allentown, PA) was 4-for-6 on the attack. Visentin once again paced the team with 22 assists and 10 digs. Freshman Nick Ochoa (Whittier, CA) made his first collegiate start and recorded 6 digs on the night.

Anderson had 4 kills for the Gulls, who fall to 0-2 on the season. Junior Mike Coniglione (Glenville, NY) chipped in with 3 kills as Jessee was the defensive leader with 7 digs.

After the first day of competition in the Inaugural Live Free or Die Invitational, Baruch sits atop the leader board with a 2-0 record with the Raider a game behind (1-1) and Endicott at 0-2.

Everyone will be back in action tomorrow as Baruch will venture across town to Daniel Webster College and take on the Eagles and MIT. Endicott will shuttle between the two Nashua campuses as they will battle SUNY-New Paltz here at the Muldoon before taking on the Eagles over at the Vagge Gymnasium. Rivier will host SUNY-New Paltz in the 11am game tomorrow morning and then host #9 MIT in a 4pm tilt. As a reminder, all games inside the Muldoon Gymnasium can be seen live at www.rivierathletics.com.