Almario, Raiders falter in weekend tournament at Baruch College

(New York, NY) The weekend of February 23rd and 24th the Rivier men's volleyball team traveled to New York City to compete in the Baruch Invitational against several nationally ranked opponents such as No. 1 Nazareth College, No. 4 Stevens Institute of Technology, No. 14 Vassar College and non-ranked Stevenson College. The Raiders would lose to both Stevens and Stevenson on Saturday and Nazareth and Vassar on Sunday. A bright spot in the tournament for Rivier was junior Aaron Almario (Alhambra, CA) being named to the all-tournament second team.

In their first match of the tournament the Raiders would face No. 4 Stevens Institute of Technology. The Ducks playing close to their home in Hoboken, NJ defeated the Raiders in four sets, 25-16, 23-25, 27-25, 27-25. The win by Stevens was powered by 56 assists and six digs by Kevin Aekerle and 19 kills by Ryan Seifert. The Raiders competed very closely in the match despite the 3-1 loss. The Rivier effort was led by bigman Aaron Almario who had 14 kills with only 3 errors and added several huge blocks to help on the defensive front. Juniors Terry Matatall (Danville, NH) and Sam Kazlas (Allentown, PA) and sophomore Chris Markuson (Cupertino, CA) all had 11 kills and four digs apiece for the Raider attack. As he often does senior Steve Visentin (Chesire, CT) led the Raiders with 48 assists and junior Matt Bynon (Burnt Hills, NY) led the defensive stance with 13 digs.

In a Saturday evening match-up the Raiders were easily handled by Stevenson College in four sets, 25-21, 22-25, 25-20, 25-21. The Mustangs were led by 19 kills from Austin Jacoby, 8 kills and 17 digs from Jon Martin and 48 assists by David Moler. Once again the Raiders put forth a valiant effort but their opponents would edge them out for the 3-1 victory. Chris Markuson would be an absolute force in the match with 17 kills and 11 digs both would be team highs. The junior trio of Almario, Matatall, and Kazlas would combine for 24 kills and 11 blocks in the match. Visentin would aid the Raiders battle with 31 assists and 9 digs. Defensive standout Matt Bynon and freshman Nick Ochoa (Whittier, CA) would each have 8 and 7 digs in the match for Rivier. The Raiders were only able to muster a .200 hitting percentage in the match while their opponents edged them out and combined for .264.

On Sunday No. 10 Rivier would face two Top 15 opponents Nazareth and Vassar. In their first match of the day No. 1 Nazareth would sweep the Raiders in straight sets, 25-20, 25-20, 25-22. The Golden Flyers were paced by 24 assists from tournament MVP EJ Wells-Spicer. With the victory Nazareth improved to 13-0 and remained the only undefeated volleyball team in both Division I and III. Several costly errors and a poor hitting percentage (.090) lost the match for the Raiders. While they lost the match in three straight sets, the match saw contributions from many on the Rivier bench. Eight Raiders recorded 2+ kills including a team high 7 from Aaron Almario. Freshman Mike Hadder (Yucaipa, CA) dished out 13 of the teams 20 assists. Six Raiders had multiple digs in the match and Matatall led the defensive effort with 5 block assists.

In their final match of the tournament RIvier was set to face No. 14 Vassar College. The Vassar Brewers earned the 3-1 victory, 25-21, 20-25, 25-22, 25-20, behind 51 assists by senior John Konow and 20 kills by freshman Reno Kriz. Stepping into the starting setter role was Mike Hadder who had 40 assists and 9 digs in the match. The Raiders got strong offensive play from several big men including 17 kills from Markuson, 11 from Almario, 9 from Matatall, 6 from Kazlas and 5 from junior Shane Spellman (Norwich, CT). Defensive standout Matt Bynon recorded a season high 22 digs and Nick Ochoa added 7 of his own. Almario led the defensive wall for the Raiders with 6 block assists. He, Markuson, Matatall, Spellman, and Kazlas would all combine for 3 solo block and 16 block assists in the Raider loss.

After being swept in the weekend tournament the Raiders fall to .500 and a 7-7 overall record (2-0 GNAC). The Raiders return to action at home February 28 in a tri-match featuring GNAC foes Mount Ida and Lasell.