Men's Volleyball earns 8th straight GNAC Regular Season Title

(Nashua, N.H.) The Rivier University Men's Volleyball team captured their eighth consecutive Great Northeast Athletic Conference Regular Season title this evening as they defeated visiting Johnson and Wales University in four sets at the Muldoon Gymnasium.

Rivier won the game by scores of 25-16, 25-12, 23-25 and 25-14.

Seniors Matt Tutino (Manorville, N.Y.) and Sam Kazlas (Allentown, Pa.) combined for 21 kills and sophomore Tyler Blank (Rochester, N.Y.) provided 34 assists for the Raiders who upped their record to 17-9 and 12-1 in the GNAC. Tutino registered a .421 hitting percentage only to be outdone by Kazlas who finished with a .533 hitting percentage. Tutino also was a force along the net as he combined for seven total blocks. Freshman Grant Andler (Chicago, Ill.) had 8 kills in the win.

JWU (19-9, 7-5 GNAC) was paced by Brendan Baker who had 10 kills and two total blocks. Don Dias added 8 kills and five total blocks while J.J. Bessette contributed 30 assists in the four set loss.

Rivier will finish out the 2015 regular season on Saturday afternoon as they host Wentworth Institute of Technology in a 1pm GNAC contest. It was also be Senior Day at the Muldoon as the team honors seniors Matt Tutino, Brendan Tutino (Manorville, N.Y.), Cam Phegley-Walker (Los Angeles, Calif.), Sam Kazlas (Allentown, Pa.) and All-American Chris Markuson (Cupertino, Calif.).