Women's Volleyball: Raiders split non-conference tri-match at the Muldoon

Women's Volleyball: Raiders split non-conference tri-match at the Muldoon

(Nashua, N.H.) The Rivier University Women's Volleyball team split their non-conference tri-match this afternoon at the Muldoon Gymnasium as they fell to Roger Williams University, 3-1 in the first match before sweeping Westfield State University, 3-0 to close out the day. Roger Williams also swept Westfield State, 3-0 in the middle match. With the split the Raiders are now 6-5 overall on the season while the Hawks improve to 6-4 and the Owls fall to 0-11.

Game One: Roger Williams University 3, Rivier University 0 (Final)

Rivier was able to take the first set 25-18 but then the Hawks rallied to take the final three sets by scores of 25-20, 25-19 and 26-24 to secure the win in the opener.

Junior Taylor Dunster (Sutton, Mass.) was the game leader with 16 kills and freshman Sydney Racevicius (Woodbury, Conn.) added 12 kills as they both combined for a double-double with Dunster scooping up 14 digs and Racevicius totaling 11 digs. Senior setter Hayley Macken (Clifton Park, N.Y.) dished out 38 assists and led the team with 15 digs along with freshman Avery Pollard (Ballston Lake, N.Y.) who also collected 15 digs along the back line. Junior Jessica Whyte (Plymouth, Mass.) chipped with a solid first contest as she had 8 kills and five total blocks.

The Hawks we paced by the attack of freshman Katherine Pickard (St. Petersburg, Fla.), who was the only student-athlete to reach double-figures with 11 kills. Fellow freshman Kate Porter (Killngworth, Conn.) handed out 28 helpers and freshman Kate Grabowski (Hebron, Conn.) led the defensive effort with 13 digs. Junior Grace Kenningham (Houston, Texas) also shined bright defensively with 10 digs and senior Molly Quilty (Duxbury, Mass.) hammered down nine kills and six total blocks.

Game Two: Roger Williams University 3, Westfield State University 0 (Final)

Roger Williams continued to remain red-hot as they went on to sweep Westfield State by scores of 25-14, 25-22 and 25-13.

Senior Jill McManaman (Bellerose Village, N.Y.) guided the Hawks with 10 kills and a .533 hitting percentage as sophomore Katie Nugent (Lynnfield, Mass.) chipped in with eight-kills and eight-digs. Freshman Allie Welch (Marlborough, Conn.) passed out 29 assists while classmate Olivia Turcotte (South Kingstown, R.I.) picked up 10 digs along the backline.

For Westfield State, freshman Olivia Elie (Rockland, Mass.) was the kill leader with seven in the contest and both senior Brianna Starkey (Rockalnd, Mass.) and freshman Shawna Crowley (Billerica, Mass.) added five kills each in the loss. Junior Ally Rega (Chelmsford, Mass.) collected 18 assists and sophomore Lynn Shattuck (Townsend, Mass.) led the defense with nine-digs.

Game Three: Rivier University 3, Westfield State University 0 (Final)

Rivier returned to the floor and was able to salvage a split as they swept Westfield State by set scores of 25-15, 25-18 and 25-19 to complete the action at the Muldoon.

Racevicius was the leader for the Raiders with a nine-kill effort while Dunster was a step behind with eight-kills. Sophomore Jillian Rabasco (Nashua, N.H.) smashed down seven kills with both junior Sunny Foglia (Remsenburg, N.Y.) and sophomore Julia Zargaj (Groveland, Mass.) adding four kills each. Foglia was electric on the defensive side of the net as she totaled five blocks in the night-cap. Macken handed out 20 assists to guide the offense and Dunster was the dig leader with 12. Sophomore Katherine Antczak (Salem, N.H.) added nine digs as well for the Raiders.

Junior Natasha Belardo (Springfield, Mass.) provided a bright spot for the Owls as she led the team with six kills and also scooped up seven digs. Sophomore Jess Haradon (Mansfield, Mass.) was the dig leader with 12 and Rega totaled 22 assists in the finale. Starkey tied Belardo for the team-high with six kills and junior Hannah Simpkins (Walpole, N.H.) added a block solo and three kills for Westfield State.

The Raiders will return to Great Northeast Athletic Conference competition when they return to the court on Wednesday night as they host Norwich University in a 7pm affair. Westfield State will also be in action on Wednesday as they host Elms College and Roger Williams will travel to Gordon College for a Commonwealth Coast Conference contest on Wednesday night.