Women's Volleyball: Raiders place three on GNAC All-Conference Teams
Posted: Nov 08, 2017

Women's Volleyball: Raiders place three on GNAC All-Conference Teams

(Winthrop, Mass.) On Tuesday afternoon, the Great Northeast Athletic Conference announced their end of the season Women's Volleyball Major Award winners and All-Conference Teams. Three representatives from the Rivier Women's Volleyball program were selected among the 21 honorees across the three All-Conference teams.

For the 17th consecutive season, the Raiders had a student-athlete receive GNAC First Team honors. Junior setter Hayley Macken (Clifton Park, N.Y.) was this season's latest installment to the All-Conference First Team. Sophomore Taylor Dunster (Sutton, Mass.) was selected to the Second Team and freshman Julia Zargaj (Groveland, Mass.) earned Third Team honors for the first time in their respective careers.

Macken, who was named to the GNAC All-Conference Third Team in 2016, had another outstanding season directing the Raider offense. She accrued 737 assists in just 86 sets played for a 8.57 assist per set average – ranked second best in the conference. Macken also contributed with 115 kills, 27 service aces offensively while totaling 31 blocks and 194 digs defensively on the season.

Dunster had a breakout season for the Raiders in her first full campaign as a starter. She led the team with 299 kills over 99 sets played for a 3.02 kills per set average. That's a 275 kill increase from her rookie season. She also hammered down 33 service aces while providing additional defensive help with 342 digs and 35 total blocks.

Rounding out the All-Conference trio is the rookie Zargaj. She led the team with 37 total blocks and nine solo-blocks while also obtaining a 0.44 blocks per set average. Zargaj was a key contributor along the net as she complied 120 kills – second most on the team – and a .297 hitting percentage.

Senior Erin Rosa (Cumberland, R.I.) was the team's selection to the All-Sportsmanship Team. 

The Raiders season came to an end in the GNAC Semi-finals to Simmons College last Thursday evening. They finished with an overall record of 20-12 and a 10-2 mark against conference competition.