Women’s Volleyball Sweeps USJ in Road Tilt

WEST HARTFORD, CONN. – Fresh off a Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) Player of the Week nod, junior middle Lily Sills once again dominated for Rivier women's volleyball, as the Raiders swept Saint Joseph (Conn.) on Wednesday night at Calhoun Gymnasium. The Raiders were victorious over USJ by set scores of 25-22, 25-20, 25-19 to improve to 7-3 (4-1 GNAC), while the Blue Jays fell to 1-13 (1-4 GNAC) on the season.

With the score tied at 7-7 in the first set, USJ rattled off five-straight points, four of which came from Nicole Albert aces, to put the Blue Jays on top 12-7. Leading 15-9 later in the set, Saint Joseph would commit two consecutive attack errors before Sills' first kill of the match forced the home team into a timeout, still leading by three. Rivier continued to play catch-up until a string of three-straight points, capped off by a USJ attack error, put the Raiders on top, 22-21, and forced the Blue Jays to burn their final timeout of the frame. Rivier closed out the set from there to take a 1-0 lead in the match. Hannah Raab and Brynn Roche each had three kills in the first set, as Ryan Hicks recorded eight assists and Sofia Pawlusik notched two aces.

It was back-and-forth once again throughout the second set, as the score was tied nine times and the lead changed on four occasions. It took until the end of the set for Rivier to feel comfortable with a lead, as the visitors could not seem to shake the home side until a pair of Blue Jays errors followed by a Sills ace and Roche kill put Rivier up 23-19 to help advance into the third set with a 2-0 lead. Sam Driend recorded two kills while Callie Nanos dug six USJ attacks in the set.

In the third set, Hicks would give the Raiders their first lead on an ace making it 13-12. Roche then notched a kill to extend Rivier's lead to 16-13 and force USJ into a timeout. The offense would continue to produce as Driend, Roche, Meghan North, and Sill all recorded kills over the remainder of the set as Rivier came away with its third victory by way of the sweep this season. Nannos again picked up six digs in the final set while Sills notched five kills at a .444 clip.

Sills, who entered the match atop the GNAC leaderboard for hitting percentage, hit at an efficient .333 clip in the match, picking up a team-high ten kills. Behind her in the kills category was Driend with eight and Roche with seven as Rivier hit .204 as a team. Hicks dished out 20 assists in the match while Kaitlyn Miller tacked on five of her own. Nannos led all players will 17 digs on the night, followed by eight from Pawlusik.

Rivier will return to action in a non-conference tri-match on Saturday, Sept. 30, hosted by Wentworth. The Raiders will open up with an 11:00 a.m. match versus the host institution before taking on Worcester St. at 1:00 p.m. from Tansey Gymnasium.