Raiders Take Down Cross Town Rival Daniel Webster in Straight Sets

Nashua, N.H. – Sophomore Kenna Finlayson (Derry, N.H.) belted out a match high eight service aces, and added seven kills and four digs helping Rivier College sweep host Daniel Webster College, 3-0 in the annual women's volleyball matchup of intracity rivals Tuesday night at Mario Vagge Gymnasium.

Nicole Peacock (Warwick, R.I.) added a team high nine kills with just two errors and hit .500 and Nicole Rodriguez (Newton, Mass.) added seven kills as the Raiders (16-9), won their third straight and for the 10th time in their last 11 outings with the 25-18, 25-20, 25-14 victory that halted DWC's program record six-match winning streak.

Sophomore Chelsey Crawford (Westfield, Mass.) led the Eagles (12-6) with nine kills and added four digs and two aces, while sophomore Samantha Hill (Hudson, N.H.) notched seven kills and junior Emily Travis (Somerset, Mass.) chipped in with five. Amanda Wilson (Merrimack, N.H.) had seven digs.

Lauren Saccoccio (Warwick, R.I.) dished out 24 assists for Rivier, while her DWC counterpart Caitlyn DePierro (Billerica, Mass.) had 20 assists for the hosts.

Rivier, which toppled the Eagles for the 10th straight time, didn't trail until 6-5 in the second set and hit .268 as a team knocking down 32 kills against 13 errors, while the Eagles hit just .077 with 23 kills against 18 errors. Rivier racked up 14 aces on the line to just six for DWC.

Ball handling was an important subplot as well as the Eagles struggled with 14 receiving errors to 6 for the Raiders.

After Rivier cruised through the opening set, DWC built an 8-6 early lead keyed by two kills from Hill. Rivier pulled with one (9-8) before Rodriguez went to work with a kill to tie it and racked up eight straight points from the service line that saw the Eagles commit five unforced errors. The Eagles would pull no closer than four point the rest of the way.

Ahead 2-0 early in the third, the Eagles saw Rivier respond with another Rodriguez kill and four straight at theservice line later followed by back to back kills from Peacock that sparked a 12-2 run and 14-4 lead.  Rivier never let DWC closer than nine the rest of the way.

The Eagles return to action Thursday visiting Lyndon State at 7:00 p.m.

Rivier faces Colby-Sawyer on Friday at Western Connecticut State beginning at 7:30 p.m.