Men’s Volleyball Downed in Four by No. 1 Wentworth

NASHUA, N.H. – The Rivier men's volleyball team fell in a four-set battle against No. 1 Wentworth in a Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) clash on Friday evening in the Muldoon Center.

The Raiders suffered their first loss in conference play by set scores of 25-23, 18-25, 16-25, 18-25 and fell to .500 on the year at 7-7 (3-1 GNAC). The Leopards remain perfect with a 15-0 (5-0 GNAC) ledger.

Despite trailing 23-21, Rivier used a four-point swing at the end of the first set to take a 1-0 lead in the match. The Raiders hit .522 in the first, with perfect performances from middles Ryan Peace and Chris Lezon who notched five and three kills, respectively, while committing zero errors.

In a second set with 16 tie scores and six lead changes, it would be the visitors who came out on top as they responded with a .524 team hitting percentage of their own to even the match at 1-1. Jacob LaBouliere recorded six kills on eight errorless attempts to pace Wentworth's offensive attack.

Wentworth's offense would yet again explode in the third, as the team combined to hit at a .619 clip, with setter Josh Milke dishing out 13 assists in the frame. The Leopards were strong on defense as well, combining for five team blocks.

The Leopards closed out the match with a strong finish in the fourth set to pull away for their 15th win of the campaign.

Rivier's Neil Rea dished out 41 assists in the contest as the team hit .257. Both Peace and Sokunbuth Ly registered double-digit kill totals with 11 and 10, respectively. Both Isaac Borges (9 kills, .312) and Racine Camara (3 kills, .500) added sparks off the bench.

The Raiders will have a week off before traveling to Elms to take on the Blazers in a doubleheader on Saturday, March 2 with start times of 11:00 a.m. and 1:00 p.m. scheduled from Picknelly Arena.