No. 6 Springfield Bests Men’s Volleyball

NASHUA, N.H. – The Rivier men's volleyball team fell in straight sets to No. 6 Springfield on Saturday night at the Muldoon Center.

The Raiders fell by set scores of 19-25, 25-27, 20-25 to drop to 1-3 on the young season, while the Pride improved to 4-1.

Springfield got out to a 13-8 lead in the opening set as a pair of Rivier errors surrounding a Pride service ace forced the hosts into a timeout. Out of the timeout, Rivier used kills by Ryan Peace and Sokunbuth Ly to make it a three-point game. The Raiders soon found themselves down by five at 16-11 and called a timeout to regroup. Out of the timeout, Isaac Borges recorded a kill and a service ace on back-to-back points to send Springfield to the bench as the Pride called their first timeout. The Pride would answer with four-straight kills to pull in front, 20-13, with enough cushion to hold off a late Rivier rally and take a 1-0 match lead.

In the second set, Rivier trailed 24-22 when Ryan Peace recorded consecutive blocks, with help from Neil Rea on the second, to tie the game at 24-24. After a Springfield timeout, the Pride regained their lead on a Sam Levinson kill. Ethan Soltis re-tied the game at 25-all on a kill of his own before two Riv errors provided Springfield with a 2-0 lead.

Rivier jumped in front early in the third set, taking a 3-0 lead. Springfield would battle to take the lead at 9-8 on a Brennan Cutter kill. From there, the lead would change four more times throughout the remainder of the game before the Pride would pull away late to earn the sweep.

Rea led the offense with five kills on 11 errorless attacks to hit .455 on the match. He also dished out 22 assists, recorded two digs, and helped on a pair of blocks. Peace notched nine kills at a .400 clip while registering three blocks. The Raiders recorded seven aces to Springfield's four.

Rivier continues its homestand against MIT with a 6:30 p.m. first serve scheduled for Thursday, Feb. 1 at the Muldoon Center.