Women's Volleyball: Raiders sweep Gordon in 2019 home opener

Story written and posted by Anthony Perry, Rivier University Sports Information Director 

NASHUA, N.H. – The Rivier University Women's Volleyball team earned a clean 3-0 sweep of visiting Gordon College this evening inside the Muldoon Gymnasium. The Raiders took the three set match by scores of 25-18, 25-14 and 25-21 to improve to 5-4 on the season. The Fighting Scots dropped to 4-3 with the setback.

The win is the third in the all-time series for Rivier as they now hold a 3-1 advantage over Gordon College dating back to the first game played back on September 29, 2009 (a 3-0 Rivier win in Nashua).

Rivier was led by senior Jess Whyte (Plymouth, Mass.) who hammered down a game-high 16 kills to go along with her .714 hitting percentage. Sophomore Sydney Racevicius (Woodbury, Conn.) also reached double-figures with 11 kills and junior Julia Zargaj (Groveland, Mass.) added five kills and a block assist in the win. Sophomore setter Avery Pollard (Ballston Lake, N.Y.) dished out 37 assists on the evening to guide the Raider offense and senior Taylor Dunster (Sutton, Mass.) scooped up 11 digs along the back line. Matching Dunster was freshman Olivia Garand (Litchfield, N.H.) who had 11 digs and seven service aces on the night.

Gordon was paced offensively by juniors Jacque Fitzgerald (Wyantskill, N.Y.), who collected seven winners, and Marla Batson (Windham, N.H.) who knocked down six kills for the Fighting Scots. Junior Ashlyn Gergins (Murrieta, Calif.) was the assist leader with 22 helpers and senior Jenny Curtiss (Larkspur, Colo.) recorded 13 digs to lead the team.

Rivier will return to action on Saturday morning as they host Saint Joseph's College (Maine) and Bates College in a tri-match at the Muldoon. The Great Northeast Athletic Conference matchup with the Monks will begin at 11am. Gordon will be back on the court this Thursday night as they travel to Boston for a non-conference matchup with Simmons University at 7pm.