Rivier Women's Volleyball Wins 2008 GNAC Championship

Nashua, N.H.. – Top seeded Rivier College women’s volleyball won a hard fought battle for the second straight season against #2 seed Johnson & Wales University, 3-1 at the Muldoon Health & Fitness Center on Saturday afternoon. 

Johnson & Wales opened the match with a 25-21 victory in set one.  Rivier then knotted the match at 1-1 with a 25-17 win in the second set.  The host Raiders then took the 2-1 advantage with a 25-22 win in set three after trailing 22-20 late in the set.  The Raiders closed out the match with a 25-21 win in set four.

Rivier was led by sophomore Nicole Rodriguez (Newton, MA) with 11 kills, 4 digs, 3 blocks, and 3 ace serves while senior Nicole Hersey (Milton, NH) also recorded 11 kills and 4 digs in the victory.  Senior Colleen Van Cura (Niantic, CT), the Most Valuable Player of the GNAC Championship, had 17 digs on the afternoon.  Senior Laura Ciummo (Burrillville, RI) led the Raider offense with 38 assists while junior Lindsay Chace (E. Providence, RI) hit a team high .357 percent and blocked 3 Wildcat attacks in the four game set.
 
Sophomore Danielle Jacques (Derry, NH) was steady with 8 kills for the Raiders including 1 big put-away late in set four.  Freshmen Danielle Stoodley (Salem, NH), Lauren Saccoccio (Warwick, RI) , and Emileigh Cenedella (Townsend, MA) were strong once again for the Raiders.  Stoodley scooped up 12 digs, including a backbreaking lip in set 4 to turn momentum towards the Raiders.  Saccoccio put down big kills all match and helped with 8 digs and 2 aces.  Cenedella scrambled for 7 digs and served 3 lasers for aces. 

Rivier improves to 25-10 and have earned the conference’s automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Championship.  Location, times, and opponents are TBA.

Courtesy: Rivier Athletic Communication