Women's Volleyball downs Simmons, 3-0; host #2 Emmanuel for GNAC Championship
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | T | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Simmons (11-25, 7-4 GNAC) | 15 | 17 | 21 | 0 |
|
Rivier (26-8, 11-0 GNAC) | 25 | 25 | 25 | 3 |
(Nashua, NH) The Rivier University Women's Volleyball team, the overall #1 seed in the Great Northeast Athletic Conference Tournament, defeated fifth seeded Simmons College 3-0 in the GNAC Semifinals tonight in front of a packed house at the Muldoon Gymnasium. With the win, Rivier advances to the GNAC Championship Game for the fourth consecutive year.
In the previous three Championship appearances, the Raiders were only able to capture the crown once – 2011 at Emerson College. Since 2003, Rivier has made an appearance in the Championship Game eight times and have come away with fourth titles.
Senior Nicole Peacock (Warwick, RI) and freshman Molly McCormack (Ballston Lake, NY) combined for 21 kills on the evening with Peacock registering a .409 hitting percentage. McCormack was the kill leader with 11 while Peacock finished with 10. Sophomore Emily O'Reilly (San Francisco, CA) totaled 32 assists and senior Jessica Amaral (East Providence, RI) recorded 17 digs. Sophomore Nikki Deluga (Cotuit, MA) also had double-digit digs with 11. Sophomore Jackie Pisecco (Chelmsford, MA) came off the bench and lashed out 6 kills on 9 attempts with 0 errors for a .667 hitting percentage and O'Reilly added five kills.
Simmons was paced by sophomore Nicole Alberghini (Northborough, MA) and freshman Abby Hart (Westfield, MA) who had 7 and 6 kills, respectively. Freshman Morgan Kieon (North Attleboro, MA) had 11 assists with freshman Alexandria Itasaka (Bradford, MA) totaling the game high with 25 digs.
The Muldoon Gymnasium will host the 2013 Great Northeast Athletic Conference Women's Volleyball Championship Game this Saturday afternoon at 1pm. The top seeded Raiders of Rivier University will square off against the 2nd seeded Saints of Emmanuel College. This will be the first meeting in the Championship Game between the two schools since 2006 when Emmanuel defeated Rivier 3-1. Overall the Saints hold the advantage over the Raiders in the Championship Game by a 2-1 edge.