Don't Call it an Upset... #8 Men's Volleyball takes down #1 Springfield

(Nashua, New Hampshire) What an opening game of the season for the #8 Rivier University Men's Volleyball team this afternoon. Hosting the pre-season #1 nationally ranked Springfield College, the Raiders earned a hard fought four set win by scores of 25-22. 19-25, 25-19 and 25-13. This was the program's first ever win against a #1 seed and it was also the first time that Rivier has ever defeated Springfield in Men's Volleyball.

Senior Aaron Almario (Alhambria, CA) and junior Chris Markuson (Cupertino, CA) each had 12 kills to lead the offensive attack for Rivier. Freshman Tyler Blank (Rochester, NY) made 37 assists, 5 digs – a team high – and 4 total blocks in his Raider debut. Almario recorded an illustrious .526 hitting percentage and five total blocks (two solos). Senior Terrence Matatall (Danville, NH) added 8 kills and five total blocks of his own in the season opening win.

Springfield saw a solid effort from sophomore Luis Vega (Corozal, Puerto Rico) who had the game high of 15 kills. Fellow Puerto Rican, junior Angel Perez (Naranjito, PR) added 14 kills and senior Ryan Malone (Chicopee, MA) had 10 kills to pace the Pride offense. Junior Keaton Pieper (Dallas, TX) was the game's assists leader with 42 with Vega leading the defense with 7 digs.

The win for Rivier was a big one in many ways as they snapped Springfield's 30 game win streak against NCAA Division III opponents.