Men’s Volleyball Comeback Stifled by Emmanuel (Mass.)

NASHUA, N.H. – The Rivier men's volleyball team forced a fifth set after dropping behind 2-0 before Emmanuel (Mass.) earned the road victory with a 15-12 showing in the final set in Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) action at the Muldoon Center on Tuesday night.

The Raiders fell by set scores of 18-25, 22-25, 25-13, 25-16, 12-15 to fall to 4-5 (1-2 GNAC) while the Saints improved to 7-6 (2-2 GNAC).

Rivier called its first timeout trailing 18-14 in the opening set as Louis Da Silva dropped in his second service ace. Out of the break, the visitors got out to a six-point lead to help secure a 1-0 match lead.

After falling behind early in the second, Riv battled to earn its first lead of the set on a bad set by the Saints' Quincy Moore. Emmanuel once again took charge but the Raiders battled throughout the rest of the set, cutting the deficit to one multiple times, but it would not be enough to slow down the Saints who held on to take a 2-0 advantage.

The Raiders put together their first meaningful run early in the third, leading 10-3 at a Saints timeout. The lead would balloon to 10 at 14-4 on a kill from first-year opposite Cade Barron. Rivier's lead would get as high as 13 as the home side prolonged the match. The Raiders hit .389 in the third as sophomore outside Racine Camara recorded five kills on six errorless attempts to force a fourth set.

Rivier forced a timeout with a 15-10 lead in the fourth as sophomore setter Justin Barish dropped in a kill. First-year outside Cody Fitzpatrick notched a kill out of the break before a Saints' attack error gave the Raiders a seven-point edge. The Raiders kept their distance to force a fifth and final set. For the second frame in a row, the guests were limited to a team hitting percentage below .100.

The fifth set saw eight tie scores and six lead changes as the Raiders ultimately dropped in the late stages. With the score tied at 10-10, the Saints went on a 5-2 run to finish out their second conference victory of the campaign.

Camara finished with a career-high 17 kills while hitting at a .445 clip with six digs. Barish dished out 41 assists while adding four of the team's seven aces.

The Raiders look to get back in the win column in a Friday, Feb. 14 GNAC showdown against No. 18 Lasell at 7:00 p.m. at the Muldoon Center.