Women's Volleyball impressive in first day of Granite State Challenge

(New London, N.H.) Colby-Sawyer College hosted the first day of competition in the 2014 Granite State Challenge on Friday at the Hogan Sports Center. Each of the five completing team, which included Colby-Sawyer, Daniel Webster, Keene State, Plymouth State and Rivier, played two matches and will finish the round robin tomorrow in Nashua on the campuses of both Daniel Webster and Rivier.

The Raiders and the Owls of Keene State won both of their games today while Colby-Sawyer split and both Daniel Webster & Plymouth State lost twice.

Rivier University 3, Daniel Webster College 0 (Final) – 25 18, 25-19, 25-17

The Raiders improved to 7-4 with a 3-0 sweep over Daniel Webster. Rivier was led by sophomore Molly McCormack (Ballston Lake, N.Y.). She had a team best nine kills and added eight digs. Junior setter Emily O'Reilly (San Francisco, Calif.) recorded a match-high 29 assists and collected eight digs. Sophomore Lauren Silverman (Chelmsford, Mass.) hit .417, had seven kills and three total blocks.

Daniel Webster dropped to 1-7 and was led by freshman Amanda Gendron's (Claymont, Del.) six kills. Freshman Courtney Sheyenne Warrington (Canton, Texas) contributed five kills and three aces.

Rivier University 3, Plymouth State University 0 (Final) – 25-17, 25-13, 25-19

Rivier earned its second 3-0 sweep of the evening behind a strong offensive attack. The Raiders hit .452 and were led by Lauren Silverman's (Chelmsford, Mass.) nine kills. Sophomore Dana Mott (Medway, Mass.) hit .875 and had seven kills. Junior Jackie Pisecco (Chelmsford, Mass.) also had seven kills for the Raiders.

Plymouth was led by Jana Nieman (Fair Lawn, N.J.). She had a team best six kills. Junior setter Kirsten Perrotta (Hudson, N.H.) had 19 assists, three kills and three digs for the Panthers.

Rivier will host Keene State and Colby-Sawyer tomorrow at the Muldoon Gymnasium. The day's first match will be the Raiders vs. the Owls beginning at 10am.