Men's Volleyball: Rivier sweeps Emmanuel; advance to GNAC Semi-finals

(Nashua, N.H.) The Rivier University Men's Volleyball team earned another trip to the Great Northeast Athletic Conference Semi-finals with a three set sweep of visiting Emmanuel College in a GNAC Quarterfinal matchup at the Muldoon Gymnasium. Rivier, 20-12 overall on the season, is the overall #3 seed and will travel to #2 Lasell College on Thursday night. Emmanuel wraps up the 2017 campaign with an 8-21 overall record.

The Raiders took home the win by set scores of 25-12, 25-18 and 25-12.

Juniors Grant Andler (Chicago, Ill.) and Matt Heckler (Simi Valley, Calif.) led the way offensively as they combined for 19 of the team's 39 kills in the win. Andler was the leader with 12 kills (.478 hitting percentage) while Heckler recorded a .700 hitting percentage with 8 kills and four total blocks. Senior Ian Wolski (Westfield, Mass.) was right behind Andler with 11 kills. Senior setter Tyler Blank (Rochester, N.Y.) controlled the offense with 37 assists and contributed on the defensive end with four total blocks. Junior libero Garrett Bucklin (Jamestown, R.I.) collected 13 digs for the Raiders.

The Saints were paced by sophomore Erik English's (Simi Valley, Calif.) six kills and nine digs while both freshman John Carroll (Massapequa, N.Y.) and sophomore Alex Silva (Jamaica Plain, Mass.) added four of their own. Freshman setter Seamus McDonagh (Long Beach, N.Y.) totaled 18 assists and sophomore libero Elijah Parks (Long Beach, N.Y.) scooped up six digs in the season ending loss.

This will be the tenth consecutive trip to the GNAC Semi-Finals for the Raiders. Game time is set for 7pm at the Lasell Athletic Center.