MIT Downs Men’s Volleyball in Four Sets

NASHUA, N.H. – The Rivier men's volleyball team fell in four sets to MIT on Thursday night in a non-conference clash at the Muldoon Center.

The Raiders fell by set scores of 21-25, 25-27, 25-19, 16-25 to fall to 1-4 on the young campaign, while the Engineers improved to 2-4.

Rivier fell into a 14-10 hole in the first set and called a timeout to reset. Out of the break, Rivier scored three of the next four points to cut the deficit to two, forcing MIT to call a timeout of their own. MIT's lead would grow to five points at 21-16 on a Nicholas Gustafson kill. Despite Rivier cutting the deficit to two at 23-21, Gustafson rattled off a kill and an ace to give the Engineers a 1-0 match lead.

In a second set with eight tie scores and four lead changes, Rivier jumped out to a 5-1 lead, highlighted by a Chris Lezon kill and an Isaac Borges ace. MIT would go on a 8-3 run to take its first lead of the game. The Raiders would battle back to tie the game at 17-17 with the visitors taking a timeout as a result. Despite facing set point, Riv would rally to earn a 27-25 set victory as Neil Rea notched a kill and Lezon recorded an ace to close out the set and knot the match up at one-all.

The Engineers put together an 11-5 lead before expanding their advantage to eight points on three separate occasions en route to a 25-19 third set victory. Carrying the workload with seven kills was Gustafson who hit at a .667 clip. Michael Rini hit 1.000 in the frame going three-for-three on attacks. Philip Johnson followed right behind, hitting at a .750 clip while notching three kills as the visitors took a 2-1 match lead.

In the fourth, Rivier battled to produce five tie scores but could not send the match into a fifth set as MIT took the lead at 6-5 and wouldn't let it go, cruising to a 25-16 triumph.

Rea led Rivier with 24 assists and seven kills at a .333 clip while also recording seven digs and a solo block. Ryan Peace hit .250, recording five kills and also notching three blocks. Racine Camara flashed, notching six kills on fourteen errorless swings to hit .249 while producing a team-best eight digs.

Rivier continues its early homestand with a tri-match against Manhattanville and Ramapo on Saturday, Feb. 3. First serve from the opening match of the day against the Valiants is set for 11:00 a.m. at the Muldoon Center.