Men's Volleyball: Raiders split matches against MIT and Sage, 1-3 & 3-0.

(Albany, N.Y.) The Raiders 3-game unbeaten streak was halted after matching up against the Beavers of MIT in Albany on Saturday in a 1-3 battle. The scores were 22-25, 25-18, 22-25 & 24-16.  The loss was just a minor setback for the Raiders as they blanked the Gators of Sage College in the next match, 3-0.  The scores of that match were, 25-21, 25-18 & 25-18.

Game One: Rivier University 1 vs. MIT 3 (Final)

Two time GNAC player of the week David Smith (Clinton, OH) led the Raiders attack against the Beavers hitting a .452 hitting percentage after nailing down seventeen kills.  Sophomore Kristjan Cortez (Fremont, CA) pegged the Gators with thirteen kills hitting at .458 and senior hitter Francis Kokoros (Braintree, MA) chipped in with six kills and two aces.

Senior setter recorded thirty-eight assists and three kills.

On defense senior Cam Roth (Coventry, RI) scooped up eight digs while Sokunbuth Ly (Lowell, MA) earned seven digs.  The Raiders out-blocked the beavers 19-9 with Kokoros and Campos putting in work recording 12 assisted blocks collectively.

Game Two: Rivier University 3 vs. The Sage Colleges 0 (Final)

The Raiders bounced back with a three set win after showcasing a few different members of starters from the first contest. Junior Matt Hagan (Burnt Hills, N.Y.) and freshman Peter White (Dunstable, MA) joined in to contribute to the success.

Hagan recorded three kills and two blocks, while the rookie libero collected two digs.  Smith led the attack against the Gators with twelve kills and three aces.  Kokoros and Cortez each notched seven kills apiece while junior Erick Roderick (Salem, N.H.) hit a season high .625 after smacking down five kills and chipped in three aces.

David Smith led the attack again for the Raiders with twelve kills and recorded three aces.  Campos collected a solid 25 assists and a service ace to boot. 

Defensively the Raiders collected fifteen digs to the Gators ten and out-blocked their opponents, 9-6.

After the two challenges the Raiders walk away with an overall record of 12-4.  The Beavers of MIT jump to 14-3 and the Gators drop to 4-15 overall.

The Raiders will return to Nashua with several days off in preparation for the SUNY-New Paltz Invitational.  On Friday they'll face off against the #4 program in the country, SUNY New Paltz (13-3) at 6PM. On Saturday morning the Raiders will challenge #6 Rutgers-Newark (15-0) at 11AM then Hunter College (10-6) at 1PM.