Women's Volleyball: Raiders win streak snapped at #3 JWU

(Providence, R.I.) The Rivier University Women's Volleyball team's 13 game winning streak came to an end this morning as they were swept by #3 Johnson & Wales University in Great Northeast Athletic Conference action. The loss is just the sixth for the Raiders as they are now 18-6 overall and 8-1 in the GNAC while the Wildcats – who are ranked #3 in the country by the American Volleyball Coaches Association – are now 21-1 and 8-0 against the conference.

Rivier fell by set scores of 19-25, 17-25 and 17-25.

Junior Taylor Dunster (Sutton, Mass.) led the way for the Raiders as she had 11 kills and 12 digs. Senior setter Hayley Macken (Clifton Park, N.Y.) dished out 24 assists while scooping up 9 digs and freshman Avery Pollard (Ballston Spa, N.Y.) netted 10 digs on the morning. Graduate Courtney Collins (Litchfield, N.H.) knocked down seven kills and both freshmen Leah Giampietro (Coventry, R.I.) and Sydney Racevicius (Woodbury, Conn.) picked up seven digs in the team's first loss since September 15th.

Johnson & Wales was powered by the performance of Hannah Dolan, who had nine kills and a .571 hitting percentage. Katie Leidhold added seven kills and Maria Coniglio chipped in with six kills. Brylee Frank handed out 30 helpers while Elyssa Nicolas led the defensive effort with 19 digs.

Rivier will look to begin a new winning streak as they return to the court on Tuesday night when they host former GNAC foe Emerson College. Game time is set for 7pm at the Muldoon Gymnasium.