Women's Volleyball: Raiders split home tri-match with Suffolk & JWU

Women's Volleyball: Raiders split home tri-match with Suffolk & JWU

(Nashua, N.H.) The Rivier University Women's Volleyball team hosted a Great Northeast Athletic Conference tri-match this afternoon in which they split their two contests against Suffolk University and Johnson & Wales University. The Raiders defeated the Rams, 3-0 in the day's first match before falling to the Wildcats, 3-0, in the final match. JWU took down Suffolk in the middle by a 3-0 final.

Rivier slides their record to 10-4 on the season and 3-1 in the GNAC. Suffolk falls to 5-6, 0-2 GNAC while JWU remains undefeated at 13-0, 3-0 in conference play.

Game One: Rivier University 3, Suffolk University 0 (Final)

The Raiders came out swinging as they took care of Suffolk in straight sets by scores of 25-17, 25-21 and 25-12.

Sophomore Taylor Dunster (Sutton, Mass.) paced the offensive attack as she had a team-high 11 kills and freshman Emma Soucy (Dunbarton, N.H.) recorded a .353 hitting percentage with 8 kills and three total blocks for Rivier. Junior setter Hayley Macken (Clifton Park, N.Y.) totaled 31 assists and a .571 hitting percentage while senior libero Bethany Trevino (Westminster, Colo.) led the back line with 13 digs. Dunster also collected 12 digs and two total blocks in the win.

Suffolk was led by junior Talia Lombardo (Windham, N.H.) who had six kills and seven digs while freshman Dakhensey Marcellus (Brockton, Mass.) scooped up the team high of 13 digs. Senior Liz Kerek (Holbrook, Mass.) was the assist leader with 21 and junior Bridget Allison (Westford, Mass.) added five kills of her own.

Game Three: Johnson & Wales University 3, Rivier University 0 (Final)

The Wildcats snapped the Raiders' nine game win streak as they remained undefeated after sweeping Rivier by set scores of 25-10, 25-15 and 25-14.

Rivier freshman Julia Zargaj (Groveland, Mass.) led the team with five kills and Emma Soucy registered an .800 hitting percentage with four kills while sophomore Jessica Whyte (Plymouth, Mass.) & Dunster also added four kills in the loss. Macken handed out 17 helpers and Dunster led the team with seven digs.

The JWU attack was buoyed by sophomore Kate Walker (Oakland, Calif.) as she hammered down 12 kills and recorded a hitting percentage of .733 over the three sets. Classmate Maria Coniglio (Old Bethpage, N.Y.) chipped in with 10 kills while junior Katie Liedhold (Achushnet, Mass.) totaled seven kills and 16 digs for the Wildcats. Sophomore Brylee Frank (Palm City, Fla.) was the game-high assist leader with 36 and freshman Mikayla Arimura (San Juan Capistrano, Calif.) added in 10 digs.
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The road doesn't get any easier for the Raiders as they are set to host Keene State on Tuesday night at the Muldoon. The Owls will enter the contest at 14-0 and defeated the Raiders in five sets back on September 8th in the Granite State Challenge. Game time is set for 7pm.