Men's Volleyball honors Seniors with a pair of 3-0 GNAC wins

(Nashua, New Hampshire) The Rivier University Men's Volleyball celebrated Senior Day inside the Muldoon Gymnasium before the start of today's Great Northeast Athletic Conference Tri-Match against Johnson & Wales University and Lasell College. Five seniors were recognized for their storied careers in the Blue and White. Aaron Almario (Alhambria, California), Matt Bynon (Burnt Hills, NY), Daniel Elitharp (Eastport, NY), Terence Matatall (Danville, NH) and Shane Spellman (Norwich, Conn.) all participated in their final regular season home games.

Game One: Rivier University 3, Johnson & Wales University 0 (Final)

Junior Chris Markuson (Cupertino, California) laced six kills and both Almario & Spellman added five kills apiece as the Raiders easily took three straight sets from the Wildcats by scores of 25-12, 25-20 and 25-17.

Bynon had a solid morning along the defensive line with 10 digs and freshman Tyler Blank (Rochester, NY) provided 27 assists in the win. Matatall and junior Cameron Phegley-Walker (Los Angeles, California) each added four kills for Rivier.

Johnson & Wales was led by Ryan Kennedy who had 7 kills and 6 digs to go along with his two total blocks. Will Lau had four total blocks and three kills to help bolster the offensive attack. JJ Bessette was the assist leader with 22 and Shawn Kennedy matched his brother with 6 digs along the back line. Shawn Kennedy also contributed with five kills in the loss.

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

The Raiders were able to capture victory in the final game of the regular season inside the Muldoon Gymnasium as they took three straight sets from Lasell College by scores of 25-21, 25-11 and 25-19.

Markuson and Almario once again paced the Raider offense as they each had 8 kills along with recording hitting percentages over .429 (Almario was at .500). Spellman was perfect with his hitting percentage as he converted kills on all six of his attempts. Blank chipped in with 33 assists and Bynon was the dig leader with 8. Elitharp also registered six digs in the win.

Lasell had two players record the team high with five kills and another two chipped in with 3 kills apiece in the loss. Both Matthew Dionne and Anthony Allen provided five kills each with Dionne recording two total blocks. Andrew Glenn was the defensive star with three digs and 15 assists.

The two wins improve Rivier's overall record to 25-5 and push them to a perfect 13-0 mark in the GNAC. The Raiders will close out the 2014 Regular Season with trips to Emerson (April 3) and Wentworth (April 5).