Women's Volleyball: Macken directs Raiders to a pair of GNAC victories

(New Haven, Conn.) The Rivier University Women's Volleyball team earned the Great Northeast Athletic Conference Tri-Match sweep this afternoon as they defeated both Albertus Magnus College and Saint Joseph's College (Me.). The pair of wins improves the Raiders' overall record to 14-8 on the season with a 7-2 mark in league play. Albertus Magnus, which also dropped their contest against Saint Joseph's, falls to 13-11 overall, 1-7 in the GNAC while the Monks slide to 10-12, 3-4 GNAC.

Game One: Rivier University 3, Albertus Magnus College 1 (Final)

In their first match of the day, Rivier dropped the first set before storming back and winning the final three sets for the win. The Raiders were victorious by set scores of 24-26, 25-14, 25-17 and 25-12.

Sophomore Taylor Dunster (Sutton, Mass.) led the way as she recorded a double-double of 12 kills and 17 digs. Junior setter Hayley Macken (Clifton Park, N.Y.) dished out 38 assists while adding seven kills of her own and senior Alex Trevains (Litchfield, N.H.) chipped in with seven kills and a .350 hitting percentage. Senior libero Bethany Trevino (Westminster, Colo.) was outstanding along the back line as she totaled 26 digs and sophomore Sunny Foglia (Remsenburg, N.Y.) added three total blocks for the Raiders. Freshman Emma Soucy (Dunbarton, N.H.) also had a bright opening game as she hammered down seven kills and was responsible for three total blocks.

Albertus saw Kimberly Keller reach the team-high of 11 kills and Genesis Cora Luquis knock down 9 kills in the loss. Jessellle Guzman contributed with 24 digs while Luquis and Ashley David scooped up 19 and 16 digs each. Nicole Beard had 33 assists for the Falcons.

Game Two: Rivier University 3, Saint Joseph's College (Me.) 1 (Final)

Rivier kept the momentum going in their final contest as they downed the Monks by set scores of 25-14, 17-25, 25-23 and 25-16.

Dunster once again paved the way to victory as she led the team with 13 kills and 18 digs with Emma Soucy providing additional help knocking down 11 kills and four total blocks for the Raiders' 14th victory of the season. Macken directed the offensive attack with 46 assists and Trevino totaled 17 digs. Also helping along the back line was senior Madison Soucy (Tolland, Conn.) who had 13 digs for Rivier while freshmen Julia Zargaj (Groveland, Mass.) and Jillian Rabasco (Nashua, N.H.) each had eight kills in the win.

Kelsey Bickford was the game's leading scorer as she had 20 kills to lead the Monks. Sarah Dyer passed out 34 helpers and Jennelle Thompson scooped up 26 digs. Sophia Randall also had 11 digs for Saint Joseph's.
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Rivier will be back on the court this Tuesday evening as they travel to Boston, Mass. for a non-conference contest against former GNAC foe Emerson College. Game time is scheduled for 7pm.