Raiders down Panthers for first time
NASHUA, N.H. – The Rivier College
women's volleyball team defeated Plymouth State University in
straight sets Tuesday evening, marking the first career victory
over the Panthers in 10 meetings over the past 15 years.
The Raiders won by scores of 25-15, 25-17, and 25-23, improving
their record to 5-6 on the season. Rivier also snapped a
decade-long winless streak against a Granite State foe last week by
defeating Colby-Sawyer College, 3-1. PSU fell to 7-5 on the
season.
The Raiders offense ran on all cylinders hitting for a season
high .349 percentage as setter Lauren Saccoccio (Warwick, R.I.)
distributed the ball well and dished out 30
assists. Sophomore Kenna Finlayson (Derry, N.H.)
put down a team high 14 kills and middle hitters Nicole Rodriquez
(Newton, Mass.) and Nicole Peacock (Warwick, RI) combined for 14
kills and six blocks.
Sophomore Casey Stoodley (Salem, N.H.) led the
Panthers with eight kills and 12 digs while junior Elissa
Morin (Nashua, N.H.) added six kills and two blocks.
Junior Alex Avery (Milton, N.H./Nute) added nine
digs in the setback.
Rivier jumped out to an early 6-0 lead in the first set and never
relinquished the advantage. The Panthers closed to within
five points only once before the Raiders cruised to the 25-15
victory. Set two saw the Panthers start to show a little more life
than the previous set, but it wasn't long before errors once
again hit hard. A close game in the beginning slowly got out
of reach for the Panthers as a three-point margin at 16-13 quickly
turned to a 20-14 advantage by the Raiders who were able to close
the set out at 25-17 to take the 2-0 lead in the match.
Set three saw the Panthers jump out to an early lead and extended
it to 12-7. But the Raiders clawed back into the match and
tied the set at 14-14. The set was then tied again at 17-17,
19-19, 21-21, and 23-23 before a kill by Peacock and a strong serve
by Finlayson helped the Raiders grab the final two points and win
the match 3-0.
Plymouth State returns home and will host UMass Dartmouth and
Colby-Sawyer College in a round robin Saturday at Foley
Gymnasium. Rivier will travel to Keene State College on
Thursday.
(Courtesy of Rivier Sports Information)
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