Postseason Preview: Women’s Volleyball Travels to JWU (Providence) for GNAC Quarterfinal Match Tuesday
NASHUA, N.H. – After earning a four-set victory over the tenth seed, New England Col., in Monday night's Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) Play-In match, the No. 7 Rivier women's volleyball team will head south to face No. 2 JWU (Providence) on Tuesday at 7:00 p.m. at the Wildcat Center.
In Monday night's triumph, senior setter Ryan Hicks recorded a career-high 50 assists in the 3-1 victory over the Pilgrims. Junior outside hitter Ali Rivera led the team with 18 kills and 18 digs while senior middle Lily Sills produced 17 kills.
JWU posted a 19-11 regular-season record, posting a 13-2 league ledger to earn the second seed. The Wildcats enter Tuesday's meeting on a five-match winning streak, all against conference opponents.
Rivier trails JWU, 18-25, in the all-time series which dates back to 1994. The Raiders have won two of the last three matchups between the two programs. The Wildcats came out victorious in the most recent battle on Oct. 19 of this season, 3-1, in the early contest of a GNAC tri-match at the Wildcat Center. In that match, Sills led Riv with 10 kills at a .375 clip while Hicks recorded 26 assists.
JWU has been led by graduate middle Peyton Oliver, who boasts a 3.16 kills per set rate, which sits fourth on the GNAC leaderboard. First-year Bailey Koopman registered 0.89 blocks per set to sit second in the league following the regular-season. Fellow first-year Sophia Diphilippo has been the Wildcats' primary setter in 2024, recording 3.98 assists per set, followed closely by classmate Nevaeh Arnold with 3.34 assists per set.
The winner of Tuesday's match will face the winner of No. 3 Regis (Mass.) and No. 6 Saint Joseph's (Me.) in the GNAC Semifinals on Thursday, Nov. 14 with a time and location to be determined.