Men’s Volleyball Sweeps Dean, Falls in Five to No. 20 Lasell in GNAC Tri-Match

NEWTON, Mass. – The Rivier men's volleyball team cruised to a straight-set sweep of Dean before falling in the fifth set to No. 20 Lasell in a Saturday afternoon Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) tri-match at the Lasell Athletic Center.

The Raiders hit .323 as they downed the Bulldogs by set scores of 25-19, 25-9, 25-15 before falling to the Lasers by scores of 17-25, 25-22, 25-22, 20-25, 8-15. Rivier now sits at 8-11 (3-4 GNAC) with the results.

The team will return to the Muldoon Center after five games away from home on Tuesday, March 25 for a GNAC clash with Regis (Mass.) set to begin at 7:00 p.m.

Rivier 3, Dean 0

Tied at 9-9 in the first set, Rivier used a kill from junior Matthew McCloskey to spark a 5-0 run to take a 14-9 lead as Dean called its first timeout. The Raiders' lead got to as much as eight points at 20-12 as first-year Cody Fitzpatrick hammered his third kill of the frame. Sophomore Racine Camara recorded the Raiders' 25th point, burying a feed from classmate Justin Barish. Sophomore Tyler Dickinson hit .667 with two kills in the opening set with one block assist to his credit.

Leading 17-8 in the second, first-year Cade Barron subbed in to serve for Rivier and jumpstarted the Raiders' 8-1 run, which closed out the set. Rivier notched five kills and an ace while Barron was at the line. Dickinson (eight kills) and Camara (three kills) each hit .750 in the second.

Despite three tie scores early in the third set, Rivier was able to pull away in the third and earn the sweep thanks to a .478 team hitting percentage, three aces, and two blocks. Senior Bassam Awde led the charge in the third, posting three kills on three attempts.

The Raiders compiled a team hitting percentage of .373 while denying the Bulldogs' offense, which hit negative.

Dickinson notched 10 kills at a .562 clip with a pair of blocks. Camara hit .417 with six kills and six digs, while McCloskey's eight-kill performance resulted in a .350 hitting percentage. Barron finished with a match-high three service aces. Barish posted a team-best 24 assists.

No. 20 Lasell 3, Rivier 2

Trailing 11-9, senior Bassam Awde dropped in a service ace before junior Matthew McCloskey notched his first kill of the match to force the hosts to burn a timeout. The Lasers responded with a 10-4 run to make Rivier use a timeout of its own, now trailing 21-15. The Raiders could not slow the Lasell offense down in the late going, resulting in an early 1-0 deficit.

The second set featured 10 tie scores and seven lead changes, with the Raiders ultimately coming out on top to tie the match. Following a timeout down 21-17, Rivier benefited from three consecutive Lasell errors to force the home side into a timeout. Out of the break, first-year Cody Fitzpatrick registered a game-tying ace. Despite falling behind on the next point, two kills from McCloskey and two additional errors from the Lasers secured a three-point victory for the Raiders, evening the match at one-all.

The third set was also back-and-forth, as the score was tied four times with three changes of the lead. Rivier came out hot, getting out to a 5-1 lead thanks in part to back-to-back kills from sophomore Tyler Dickinson and three Lasell errors. The Raiders led by as many as six before a 4-0 run from Lasell forced the Raiders to regroup with a timeout. Rivier remained in front for much of the frame, but the Lasers would later take a 21-20 lead. The Raiders were resilient in the face of adversity and posted a 5-1 run over the closing points of the third to take a 2-1 lead in the match, capped off by a kill from sophomore Racine Camara.

Lasell took a 6-5 lead in the fourth and never looked back to tie the match and force a fifth and final set. Rivier hit .290 as a team in the fourth, but the deficit proved to be too much to come back from.

The Lasers began the fifth with a 6-0 run before McCloskey recorded a side-out kill to slow the momentum. From there, Rivier was able to whittle the deficit down to four on two occasions, but Lasell was able to fend off a comeback bid to avoid the upset, capping the match with a service ace.

Dickinson was a solid contributor on offense in the second match of the day, notching seven kills at a .294 clip while recording seven block assists. Camara posted a double-double with 10 kills and 10 digs. The 10 digs tied sophomore Luis Castillo and first-year Cody Fitzpatrick. Rivier's blocking defense was solid as the squad notched 16.0 total blocks with Awde's two solo blocks and eight block assists leading the way. Sophomore Justin Barish had 35 assists, four block assists, and three digs in the loss.