Men’s Volleyball Downs Drew and Arcadia at Battle 4 the Boardwalk

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. – The Rivier men's volleyball team earned a pair of wins at the final day of the Battle 4 the Boardwalk on Saturday afternoon at the Harrah's Waterfront Conference Center, downing both Drew and Arcadia in four sets.

The Raiders downed the Rangers by set scores of 25-13, 25-21, 17-25, 25-16 before defeating the Knights 25-20, 23-25, 25-19, 25-21 to improve to 2-1. The victories also marked the first for head coach Casey Fitzpatrick on the Rivier sideline.

Rivier returns to action on Wednesday, Jan. 22 in a non-conference match at Endicott, with first serve from MacDonald Gymnasium set for 6:00 p.m.

 Rivier 3, Drew 1

Rivier got out to a 5-0 lead to start the day and extended its lead to nine points as sophomore outside Racine Camara finished a set from classmate Joseph Cruz to put Riv up 16-7. Using a balanced attack, Rivier worked its way to a 21-9 lead as kills came from senior middle Bassam Awde and Camara combined with Drew errors put the Raiders in the driver's seat. Camara, Awde, and first-year right side Cade Barron each recorded three kills in the opening set.

The second set included 14 tie scores and seven lead changes as Rivier ultimately prevailed to take a 2-0 lead in the match. Following a Camara ace to make it 22-20 in favor of the Raiders, kills by Awde and first-year outside Cody Fitzpatrick guided Rivier to set point, which was followed by an attack error from the Rangers. Junior middle Matthew McCloskey registered four kills at a .500 clip in the game.

Drew responded in the third with a .524 team hitting percentage, denying Rivier the chance for a sweep. Rivier was also held negative with a team hitting percentage of -.071 as the Rangers notched three total team blocks and nine digs in the frame.

Leading 11-10 in the third, Camara recorded a kill to jumpstart a three-point swing to put the Raiders up 14-10. Riv's lead got to six before Drew burned its final timeout of the match at 19-13. Rivier outscored Drew, 6-3, in the final stretch of the fourth with kills coming from sophomore pin Aidan Combs, Barron, McCloskey, and Camara to conclude the match, evening its record at 1-1. Riv hit .310 in the final set as McCloskey, Barron, and Awde flashed.

Barish finished with 33 assists as the team produced a .191 hitting percentage. Camara recorded a double-double with 10 kills and 10 digs. Barron led the charge with a .556 hitting percentage as he registered 11 kills. Awde recorded seven kills, three aces, and four block assists in the victory.

Rivier 3, Arcadia 1

Rivier took a 2-1 lead on a kill by sophomore outside Racine Camara and never looked back as it started the final match of the showcase strong with a 25-20 victory. Junior middle Matthew McCloskey and first-year Cade Barron produced four kills apiece with no attack errors.

With 12 tie scores and five lead changes in the second, Arcadia evened the match score at 1-1 as the Knights narrowly took the set by two points. Rivier gained a short-lived lead at 21-20 thanks to a kill from senior middle Bassam Awde, however, the Raiders would be outscored 5-2 from that point to drop the set.

Tied 13-13 in the third, Riv came out of its timeout and notched three-straight points off a Camara ace sandwiched by kills from Awde and Barron. Arcadia took a timeout down 18-14 but could not make enough adjustments to take a match lead as Rivier pulled away to take the set by six. Awde was perfect on all three attempts in the set.

A heavily contested fourth set was paused briefly for a Rivier timeout as the team trailed 17-16. Out of the break, the teams yet again traded points until a service error and two attack errors from the Rangers made it a 24-20 game before Camara ripped a kill to take the game by four. The Raiders hit .625 in the frame as only one error was committed on 24 total swings.

Rivier hit .325 as a team as four Raiders registered double-digit kill totals as Barron notched 12. Awde notched 11 kills as McCloskey and first-year Cody Fitzpatrick each had 10. Sophomore setter Justin Barish produced a career-high 46 assists. Sophomore libero Luis Castillo and Camara each had nine digs.