Men's Volleyball outlasts MIT in five

(Nashua, N.H.) The 2016 Men's Volleyball 'Live Free or Die Invitational' saw two matches played on the surface of Rivier University's Muldoon Gymnasium on Saturday evening. In the first match, the Rivier University Raiders went the distance in earning a five set win over Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). MIT then went on to beat The Sage Colleges in straight sets to end the first day of competition.

Game One: Rivier University 3, Massachusetts Institute of Technology 2 (Final)

In a battle of teams who are receiving votes for the American Volleyball Coaches Association Top 15, the Raiders came away victorious in five sets by scores of 22-25, 34-32, 25-19, 24-26 and 15-13. When the latest poll was released on February 2, Rivier received 15 votes while MIT garnered 20 votes.

Rivier, now 4-2 overall on the season, was paced by the offensive attack from senior Mike Hadder (Yucaipa, Calif.) and sophomore Grant Andler (Chicago, Ill.). Hadder led the team with 22 kills and a .378 hitting percentage. Andler laced down 21 kills and a .410 hitting percentage while also contributing a pair of total blocks. Junior setter Tyler Blank (Rochester, N.Y.) recorded an unheard of 67 assists and six total blocks in the win. Senior Mike Hovnanian (Methuen, Mass.) and sophomore Garrett Bucklin (Jamestown, R.I.) had solid defensive efforts with 16 and 15 digs, respectively. Sophomore Matt Heckler (Simi Valley, Calif.) added 11 kills and three total blocks for the Raiders.

MIT saw three student-athletes reach double figure kills with junior Martin Krasuski (Aurora, Ill.) leading the way with 23. Freshman Matt Reilly (Manhattan Beach, Calif.) had 13 kills and classmate Sklyer Kaufman (Needham, Mass.) contributed with 11 kills and five total blocks on the evening. Fellow freshman Yize Dong (Moraga, Calif.) went set-for-set with Blank but finished the match with 57 assists and senior Brendan Chang (Laytonsville, Md.) totaled 17 digs for the Engineers.

Rivier will return to action tomorrow morning as they host The Sage Colleges at 11am before finishing the LFOD Invite with a 1:30 pm scheduled start against Endicott College.

Game Two: Massachusetts Institute of Technology 3, The Sage Colleges 0 (Final)

MIT roared back to close out their participation in the LFOD '16 with a three set win over The Sage Colleges by scores of 25-18, 25-18 and 25-13.

Sophomore Andrew Hall (Lynnfield, Mass.) was the leading scorer for the Engineers as he hammered down a match high 11 kills and a .529 hitting percentage. Dong once again directed the offense with 31 assists and Chang controlled the back line with 12 digs. Kaufman added seven kills to his nights total and junior Sean Kropp (Fairless Hills, Pa.) shined bright with a .571 hitting percentage and four kills.

The Gators saw sophomore Ryan Guyton (Lockport, N.Y.) tie Hall for the match high with 11 kills and classmate Bailey Cecchi (Agawam, Mass.) added six in the loss. Sophomore Casey Fitzpatrick (Haverhill, Mass.) dished out 19 assists and freshman Austin Laverty (Schenectady, N.Y.) provided defensive help with six digs.

The Sage Colleges will return to the 'Doon tomorrow morning (11am) to face Rivier University before traveling across town to battle Daniel Webster College at 1pm.