Nashua Telegraph: Rivier Women's Volleyball Aiming High

By TOM KING
Staff Writer

NASHUA - It wasn't long after his Rivier University women's volleyball team was upset at the Muldoon Center by Johnson & Wales in the Great Northeast Athletic Conference finals that Raiders coach Craig Kolek pondered the future.

And it looked pretty good, despite the upcoming graduation loss of one of the program's best players, Emily O'Reilly.

"She's definitely a hard player to replace but I think we found somebody," Kolek said. "And the girls have been pretty focused since the end of last year. They worked hard in the off-season, got together a lot. It's (the desire to win this year) is pretty strong."

So is the roster, with several back from a 28-7 team as they open up this weekend in the Big Apple at the New York University Labor Day Invitational. The player Kolek feels will replace O'Reilly is 5-foot-8 sophomore Hayley Macken out of Clifton Park, N.Y. She was on the roster a year ago, but had to wait her turn.

"She's really athletic," Kolek said. "She got overlooked (by other schools). She could be a Division II or a low-level Division I player."

Of course you win with experience, and the Raiders have plenty of that. Senior Lauren Silverman out of Chelmsford, Mass., was an All-American last year and could be even better this year. "She's tall (5-11), athletic, jumps well and offensively really strong," Kolek said.

The Raiders are also looking for good things from senior middle hitter Dana Mott, and especially another senior, Molly McCormack. The Raiders' 5-7 outside hitter from Ballston Lake, N.Y., has a chance, if she stays healthy, to reach 1,000 career kills and 1,000 career digs. It would be a dual milestone not seen by Riv before.

"I've been coaching 20 years and I've never, never had anybody do that," Kolek said.

There is also a local on the squad, Campbell alum Alex Trevains, a 5-10 junior middle hitter. Kolek, as always, has a host of recruits waiting in the wings. One of those, Jillian Boyle out of Andover, Mass., could contribute right away.

It was a bitter pill to swallow a year ago after being the tourney favorite, and the Raiders received six first place votes in the coaches' poll, tied with J&W. Right now, Kolek feels they are on pace to be as good if not better than a year ago. Their quest for a threepeat went by the boards, but starting a new title streak and a return to the NCAAs is the goal.

"They haven't missed a beat from last year," he said.

They just want to go a step or two further.