Women’s Volleyball Falls in Four to Emmanuel (Mass.)

BOSTON, Mass. – The Rivier women's volleyball team returned to Boston to face off against Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) opponent, Emmanuel (Mass.), falling to the Saints in a four-set bout on Wednesday night at the Jean Yawkey Center. The Raiders fell to 8-5 (4-2 GNAC) on the year, while the Saints improved to 10-4 (5-1 GNAC).

In the opening set, Rivier was down 4-2 early but would battle its way back to even the score at 6-6 off four service points from Kaitlyn Miller. It would be a constant back-and-forth for the remainder of the first. Lily Sills and Hannah Raab had five and three kills respectively to close out the first set in favor of the Raiders, 25-21.

The second set would begin with the Raiders and Saints trading points until a service ace by Isabella Marquez put Emmanuel up 14-10. It would return to a highly contested battle between the two teams until the Saints would gain control and take the set 25-22.   

In the early stages of the third game, Miller rallied for five straight service points to give the Raiders a 10-6 lead. Rivier would hold the lead until four straight service points from Wiktoria Galazyn would propel the Saints to a 25-21 third set victory.

Emmanuel would not be denied in the fourth set, as they hit at a .217 team percentage and took the match by a score of 25-18.

Sills led the Raiders with 14 kills, hitting at a .267 clip. Ryan Hicks and Miller would both put up double-doubles, with Hicks posting 18 assists and 13 digs while Miller followed that up with 11 assists and 10 digs of her own. Sofia Pawlusik would round off the day with 11 digs.  

Rivier will open play on the newly renovated Muldoon Gymnasium court this Saturday, Oct. 7, in a tri-match against Saint Joseph's (Me.) and Bay Path as part of ALS Awareness Day. Prior to the opening match, there will be a re-opening ceremony taking place at 10:45 a.m.