Men's Volleyball: Raiders sweep both John Jay & Eastern Nazarene

Story written by: Anthony Perry, Rivier University Sports Information Director

(Nashua, N.H.) The Rivier University Men's Volleyball team scored a pair of clean set victories this afternoon as they defeated both John Jay College and Easter Nazarene College in a non-conference tri-match inside the Muldoon Gymnasium. The wins improve the Raiders overall record to 6-4 while the Bloodhounds fall to 5-5 and the Lions stand at 6-6. Eastern Nazarene won the day's middle match, 3-0.

Game One: Rivier University 3, John Jay College 0 (Final)

Rivier opened the day with a three-set win over the visiting Bloodhounds by set scores of 25-14, 25-15 and 25-23.

Junior David Smith (Clinton, Ohio) led the way offensively for the Raiders as he swung at an impressive .706 clip while hammering down a game-high 12 kills and freshman Jack Normandin (Clifton Park, N.Y.) added nine kills and .353 hitting percentage in the win. Junior setter Pedro Campos (Downey, Calif.) dished out 35 assists and totaled three blocks (two block solos) as classmate Cam Roth (Coventry, R.I.) scooped up 18 digs along the back line. Senior Khaynen Yocca (Pittsburgh, Pa.) chipped in with seven kills and a .875 hitting percentage in the opening contest.

The Bloodhounds were guided by sophomore Anthony Francois (Brooklyn, N.Y.), who had the team-high of nine kills and a .538 hitting percentage. Junior Godwin Sequeira (Oceanside, N.Y.) handed out 15 assists and sophomore Rintaro Kato (Rockville, Md.) patrolled the back line with 10 digs.

Game Two: John Jay College 3, Eastern Nazarene College 0 (Final)

The Bloodhounds rebounded and earned a split on the day as they pulled out a tightly contested third set for a 3-0 win over Eastern Nazarene. John Jay took the three sets by scores of 25-19, 25-13 and 27-25.

Freshman Alejandro Gallardo (Bronx, N.Y.) powered the John Jay offense with 14 kills and junior Krystian Surdel (Rzeszow, Poland) added 13 kills and a .400 hitting percentage in the win. Sequeira recorded 27 helpers and Kato picked up 19 digs, both game highs, for the Bloodhounds.

Eastern Nazarene saw sophomore Samuel Cueva (Swampscott, Mass.) register the team-high of six kills while junior James Hoopes (Lenexa, Kan.) and sophomore Tim Eddings (Endicott, N.Y.) added four kills, apiece. Sophomore Quinn Smith (Galway, N.Y.) was the assist leader with 17 and junior Sunil Lepcha (Charlotte, N.C.) totaled 13 digs. Eddings also contributed defensively with three total blocks (two block solos).

Game Three: Rivier University 3, Eastern Nazarene College 0 (Final)

Normandin once again helped to lead the charge in the final match as the Raiders took the three sets by scores of 25-14, 25-15 and 25-13.

The freshman outside hitter swung at a .583 clip on his way to eight kills, the game-high, while also picking up 10 digs. Sophomore Eric Roderick (Salem, N.H.) handed out 25 helpers and freshman Jack Hromada (Burnt Hills, N.Y.) collected 15 digs to lead the team. Freshmen Kristjan Cortez (Fremont, Calif.) and Sokunbuth Ly (Lowell, Mass.) each added six kills for Rivier as the team won its sixth straight contest.

The Lions were paced by Eddings, who had the team-high of five kills, and senior James Garofalo (Commack, N.Y.) who finished with three kills and a dig. Smith dished out 12 assists in the finale and Cueva registered the game-high of 24 digs.
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Up Next: Rivier (6-4) will host Regis College in a Great Northeast Athletic Conference showdown on Wednesday night (2/20) at 7pm. John Jay will return to action on Monday afternoon as they battle both Baruch College (12pm) and Lehman College (2pm) in CUNYAC action while Eastern Nazarene travels to Elms College for a NECC affair on Tuesday night.