Visentin named MVP, Raiders win MIT Invitational

(Cambridge, MA) The Rivier University Men's Volleyball team swept their way to victory at the MIT Invitational by defeating York, Endicott and MIT (3-0, 3-1, 3-2 respectively) as they were crowned Invitational Champions. The Raiders were led by tournament MVP senior Steve Visentin (Cheshire, Conn.) and sophomore Chris Markuson (Cupertino, Calif.) who was named to the All-Tournament Team.

Rivier easily handled York taking the match 3-0. The Raiders were paced by Visentin's 29 assists and junior Terence Matatall (Danville, NH) added a team high 10 kills. In the first game Rivier got the easy 25-15 victory. York battled back but lost the second game 25-19. The Raiders proved to be too much taking the third game 25-16.

The Endicott Gulls were Rivier's next opponent and were defeated 3-1 by the nationally ranked Raiders. Rivier lost the first game of the match 25-23 but rallied behind 13 kills from Markuson and a team high 12 digs from sophomore Shane Spellman (Norwich, Conn.) to win the next three games (25-22, 25-18 and 25-19). Spellman also contributed 8 kills in the match and junior Matt Bynon (Burnt Hills, NY) added 11 digs of his own.

In their final match of the tournament, the Raiders were taken to a decisive game 5 by the #15 nationally ranked MIT Engineers. Chris Markuson led the Raider's offense with 23 kills and 8 digs and Matt Bynon added a team high 14 digs. Junior Daniel Elitharp (Eastport, NY) came off the bench to contribute another 13 digs. The Raiders dropped the first game 21-25 but rallied to take the next two games 25-23 and 25-16 respectively. MIT tied the match at 2 by winning the fourth game 25-20 but the Engineers ultimately fell in the decisive fifth game. The Raiders won the final game 15-13 and with the victory took the tournament title.

With the victories Rivier improves to 6-3 on the season and returns back to action at home on Wednesday, February 20 at 7pm against Emmanuel College.