#2 Men's Volleyball falls twice at the Baruch Invitational

#2 Men's Volleyball falls twice at the Baruch Invitational

(New York City, New York) It was a rough weekend for the second ranked Rivier University Men's Volleyball team as they dropped two of three games at the Baruch College Invitational in New York City. The Raiders are now 8-3 on the season.

Game One: Rivier University 3, Elmira College 0 (Final)

Rivier earned their eighth win of the season as they defeated Elmira this evening by scores of 26-24, 25-19 and 25-22.

Junior Chris Markuson (Cupertino, California) had 14 kills for the Raiders and senior Aaron Almario (Alhambria, California) added 7 kills and a .778 hitting percentage in the three set win. Freshman Tyler Blank (Rochester, NY) continues to impress as he recorded 28 assists and three total blocks. Senior libero matt Bynon (Burnt Hills, NY) provided the defense with 9 digs.

Game Two: Stevens Institute of Technology 3, Rivier University 1 (Final)

Day two of competition in the Baruch Invitational was a rough one for Rivier as they fell to Stevens 3-1 by scores of 25-21, 25-19, 25-23 and 25-22.

Markuson and Almario once again paced the offense as they had 12 and 11 kills, respectively. Almario registered a .529 hitting percentage in four sets to go along with his six total blocks. Bynon was solid defensively with 10 digs and Blank added 41 helpers in the loss. Senior Terence Matatall (Danville, NH) had a good game with 9 kills and five total blocks.

Game Three: Kean University 3, Rivier University 2 (Final)

After battling back to win a tough fourth set 29-27, the Raiders fell to Kean in the fifth set 15-12 to wrap up the Baruch Invitational.

Markuson led the way for the Raiders as he had 16 kills and three total blocks. Bynon was outstanding along the back line with 12 digs and sophomore Nick Ochoa (Whittier, California) added 8. Blank recorded 39 assists and 6 digs in the loss. Both Almario and Matatall added 9 kills apiece for Rivier.

The Raiders will look to get back on the winning track this week as they begin Great Northeast Athletic Conference play with games at Johnson & Wales (2/26) and Mount Ida College (2/27).