2024 Season Preview: Rivier Men’s Volleyball
NASHUA, N.H. – After bowing out of the Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) Tournament in the semifinal round the past two seasons, the Rivier men's volleyball team will look to contend for its first NCAA Tournament berth since 2019 beginning with Saturday's season-opening tri-match hosted by No. 7 Vassar.
Sokunbuth Ly led the Raiders' offense a season ago with 247 kills from the outside, good for 2.81 kills per set, while hitting at a .257 clip and returns for his second graduate season in 2024.
Ly was the lone All-GNAC First Team selection for Rivier, followed by returners Chris Lezon (Second Team), Isaac Borges (Third Team), and Matt McCloskey (All-Rookie Team). Neil Rea will look to handle the setting duties in the upcoming season after dishing out 7.94 assists per set a season ago. Lezon, McCloskey, and Ryan Peace will spend time in the middle while Borges will head to the right side. Peter White notched 1.01 digs per set and posted a reception percentage of .981 and will be the squad's libero. Ethan Soltis will look to make a major impact in a permanent move to the outside in his senior campaign.
Of the 21 student-athletes on the roster, nine first years are joining the program from six different states across the country. Racine Camara, a 6-2 outside from Los Angeles, Calif. has impressed through the fall preseason and over the past two weeks and is slated to see time in 2024.
"We have a great combination of amazing leadership from the upperclassman and enthusiasm from the younger players which should provide for an exciting atmosphere on the court," said head coach Craig Kolek, who returns for his 27th season on the bench. "I'm excited to see what this team can achieve this season."
This past summer, Kolek was inducted into the GNAC Hall of Fame after accruing an impressive resume. He is the only head college coach in the country to obtain 400-plus wins each with a men's and women's program, and now sits north of 1,000 combined wins in his career. Additionally, he is a nine-time GNAC champion and six-time GNAC Coach of the Year on the men's side, and a six-time GNAC champion and five-time GNAC Coach of the Year while leading the women's program.
The Raiders start the year on the road in a tri-match with Potsdam and Vassar in Poughkeepsie, N.Y. From there, the team will take on New England foe, Endicott, in a mid-week matchup in Beverly, Mass. on Wednesday, Jan. 24 before taking on Springfield in the home opener on Saturday, Jan. 27 at 6:00 p.m. in the Muldoon Center.
Seven home matches follow the battle with the Pride, including the opening contests of GNAC play against Emmanuel (Mass.) and Emerson on Saturday, Feb. 10 along with Dean on Thursday, Feb. 15.
Over the week of Spring Break, the team will travel to the Golden State for four matches over Mar. 7 and 8 as part of the Cal Lu Fornia Invitational, hosted by Cal Lu at Gilbert Arena.
After returning home, Rivier will finish its final 11 matches of the season, including home non-conference clashes against Eastern Nazarene (Tuesday, Mar. 19) and Endicott (Wednesday, March 27).
Rivier was selected to finish third in the GNAC Preseason Coaches' Poll which came out on Monday, behind Wentworth and Lasell, both of which are currently in the Top-20 of the AVCA Coaches' Poll.
