MEN'S VOLLEYBALL

HEAD COACH: Craig Kolek
PHONE: (603) 897-8467; ckolek@rivier.edu
ASSISTANT COACH: Craig Martin

RAIDERS RECEIVE HONORS

April 20, 2008

Rivier College's Matt Ferreira, Zach Hansen, and Jared Andreozzi received NECVA awards thanks to their outstanding play for the 2008 season.  Ferreira was selected to the NECVA All Conference 1st Team as well as to the NECVA All New England 1st Team, while Hansen and Andreozzi were selected to the NECVA All New England 1st Team and NECVA All New England 2nd Team respectively.
 
Matt Ferreira
A sophomore from Lincoln Rhode Island became the first Raider in 2 years to be named to the North Eastern Collegiate Volleyball Association's All Conference 1st Team - a team which consists of only 14 players from 39 NECVA teams.  He was also selected to the NECVA  All New England 1st Team for the first time in his two year collegiate career.  The 6'6 middle hitter was dominant leading the Raiders in kills (442), hitting percentage (.392), and blocks (118).  His 442 kills places him second on the Raider all time season kill list behind All American Andy Chace.
 
Zach Hansen
A sophomore from Shelton Connecticut became the first Rivier player to earn GNAC Tournament MVP honors and only the second setter in Raider history to be selected to the NECVA All New England First Team.  The 6'1 setter directed the Raiders offense with 1338 assists and also was solid on defense with a team high 256 digs.  His consistent all around play earned him AVCA National Player of the Week honors in February.
 
Jared Andreozzi
A freshman from Barrington Rhode Island was selected to the NECVA All New England 2nd Team in his first year of collegiate competition.  The 6'4 outside hitter became the first Raider to be selected three times as the NECVA New England Rookie of the Week during his opening year of play.  He was also a one time overall NECVA Rookie of the Week and was named to the GNAC All Tournament Team due to his great play in the season.  His 361 kills was the highest in a season for any Rivier rookie and was second highest on the team behind NECVA All Conference selection Matt Ferreira.

Raiders #2 in ECAC North

Rivier College has been selected to participate in the East Coast Athletic Conference tournament which will be held on Saturday, April 12 at Hellenic College in Brookline, MA. The Raiders 22-12 overall record and 9-2 conference record boosted the Blue and Gray to the second seed in the tournament. The ECAC is the largest conference in the nation and this will be the six time in seven years that RIV will be battling in this prestigious post season event. Rivier has been crowned ECAC North Champions in 2004 and 2005 and has high hopes of the same for this season. This year's ECAC tournament will feature Medaille College (Buffalo, NY), Rivier College (Nashua, NH), Newbury College (Brookline, MA), and Endicott College (Beverly, MA).

ECAC Tournament
Saturday, April 12

11 a.m.  #1 Newbury College  vs  #4 Medaille College

1 p.m.    #2 Rivier College   vs  #3 Endicott College

3 p.m.    Championship Match

RAIDERS FALL IN FIRST ROUND OF NECVA

April 2008

Rivier College  1    Eastern Mennonite University   3
32-30  25-30  27-30  26-30
 
Mahwah New Jersey - Rivier College (22-12) was defeated by Eastern Mennonite University 3-1 in the first round of the North Eastern Collegiate Volleyball Association tournament.  The Raiders defense had no answers to the EMU attack as they mustered just 29 digs in the 4 sets.  Junior Scott Wright (Salem, NH) led the Raiders with 15 kills (15-3-28-.429) and a team high 6 blocks.  Matt Ferreira and Jared Andreozzi tallied 15 kills and 2 blocks apiece while libero Kyle O'Neill picked up a team high 10 digs.  Setter Zach Hansen dished out 53 assists while senior Clint Whelan had a team high 2 service aces.  Senior Kevin Harrington came off the bench to pass well with a perfect 17 for 17 on receive.

ANDREOZZI NAMED NEW ENGLAND ROOKIE OF THE WEEK

March 31, 2008

Rivier College's Jared Andreozzi was selected as the New England Rookie of the Week for the third time this season.  Andreozzi, a freshman from Barrington Rhode Island, helped lead Rivier to their first ever Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) Championship in men's volleyball. The 6'4 outside hitter was selected to the GNAC All Tournament Team after tallying a team high 24 kills in just 6 sets.  He also contributed on defense for the Raiders with 12 digs and 4 blocks.  Andreozzi rounded off his week with a 19 kill - 9 dig performance against Endicott.

RIVIER COLLEGE CROWNED MEN’S VOLLEYBALL GNAC CHAMPIONS

Rivier College defeated Emmanuel College at the Muldoon Health & Fitness Center in Nashua New Hampshire to capture the 2008 Men’s Volleyball Great Northeast Athletic Conference championship.

Rivier, who didn’t drop a set all tournament, swept the Saints for the title. The Raiders defense tallied 35 digs and 12 blocks to stifle the Saints attack. Leading the way on defense with 8 blocks was Scott Wright (Salem, NH) who also tallied a team high 12 kills on 22 attempts with only 1 error for a .500 hitting percentage. Chris Deluca (E. Moriches, NY) scooped up a Raider high 8 digs and added 2 blocks. Matt Ferreira (Lincoln, RI) and Jared Andreozzi (Barrington, RI) both had 9 kills while Zach Hansen (Shelton, CT) tallied 32 assists along with 4 blocks. 

In the first semi-final of the day, #1 seed Rivier College swept #4 Lasell College to reach the championship match. Setter Hansen directed the offense with 31 assists and added 4 digs, 3 aces, and 1 block. Andreozzi played a solid all around match with 15 kills, 5 digs, 2 blocks, and 1 ace. Brad Musante (Shelton, CT) was big in the middle with 8 kills on 14 attempts with no errors for a .571 hitting percentage and also had a team high 5 blocks.  

The tournament victory marks the first time in program history that the Raiders have won the GNAC title.  Hansen was named the tournament MVP and Wright and Andreozzi were selected to the All Tournament Team for their outstanding play.

Rivier will travel to Mahwah, New Jersey for the regional North Eastern Collegiate Volleyball Association (NECVA) tournament on April 4-6. The Raiders (22-11) qualify for the championship for the ninth consecutive year. Rivier is seeded 7th in the 16-team event and will have a rematch of the 2006 NECVA title match when they take on No. 10 seed Eastern Mennonite University. The game will be held at Rampano College at 8 p.m. on Friday, April 4.

Game Summaries:

Preliminary Round
#4 Lasell College           3
30  30  30
#5 Mount Ida College  0
23  16  28                                                      

Semi-Final 1
#1 Rivier College          3
30  30  30
#4 Lasell College          0
19  19 21

Semi Final 2
#2 Emmanuel College   3
30  34  30
#3 Johnson & Wales    0
26  32  23

Championship
#1 Rivier College             3
30  30  30
#2 Emmanuel College     0
20  25  14

NIGHTHAWKS DOWN RAIDERS

March 20, 2008

#12 Rivier College  1     #14 Newbury College   3
26-30  23-30  30-24  26-30
 
Brookline, MA - #12 Rivier College (9-2 NECVA; 20-10 overall) was defeated by #14 Newbury College to finish second the New England Division of the North Eastern Collegiate Volleyball Association. The Raiders battled in the first set but came up short after a few unforced errors late in the game. Rivier, inconsistent all match, showed their youth as they were unable to bounce back with in game adjustments to elevate their play for the remainder of the sets. Sophomore Kyle O'Neill (Long Brach, NY) showed good intensity, determination, and leadership for the Raiders. The 6'0 libero tallied a team high 15 digs and passed 33 for 36 on receive. Sophomore Matt Ferriera scored a team high 19 kills and 6 blocks while sophomore Zach Hansen registered 43 assists, 8 digs, and 4 blocks. Senior Clint Whelan chipped in with 3 ace serves.
 
Rivier will host Endicott College on Thursday 3/27 at 7pm for a non-conference match.

RAIDERS 9-1 IN NECVA

March 17 & 18, 2008

#11 Rivier College  2        Elms College                       3
30-26  24-30  30-24  28-30  10-15
#11 Rivier College  3        Johnson & Wales University  0
30-17  30-16  30-20
 
#11 Rivier College (9-1 NECVA; 20-9 overall) suffered their first NECVA loss with a 2-3 defeat by Elms College on Monday but were able to bounce back with a 3-0 sweep of Johnson & Wales University on Tuesday. Rivier had trouble finding their game, especially on defense, against Elms and struggled for most of the match. Matt Ferreira (Lincoln, RI) led the offense with 27 kills and Zach Hansen (Shelton, CT) dished out 67 assists. RIV bounced back on Tuesday night with a much more intense and focused match.  Freshman Jared Andreozzi (Barrington, RI) paced the Raiders with 12 kills (12-3-21-.428), 6 digs, and 2 blocks. Sophomore Brad Musante (Shelton, CT) played his best match to date with a 10 kill - 3 block performance. The 6'8 middle hitter hit for an impressive .833 on the match. Libero Kyle O'Neill was active all match with solid passing and outstanding defense. The sophomore from Long Beach NY had a team high 11 digs.  Senior Kevin Harrington tallied 14 helpers in just one game and a half and picked up 5 digs on the match. Chris Deluca and Andrew Tiner combined for 8 kills and 6 digs while seniors Clint Whelan and Josh Sindoni provided great energy off the bench with 5 kills, 5 digs, and solid serving.

RAIDERS SPLIT IN BOSTON

March 15, 2008

#11 Rivier College   3    Baruch College   1
36-34  30-24  28-30  30-19
#11 Rivier College   2   #13 MIT              3
30-23  30-27  29-31  13-30  13-15
 
Boston, MA - #11 Rivier College (19-8 overall; 8-0 NECVA) split a pair of matches on Saturday with a 3-1 win over unranked Baruch College and a 2-3 loss to 13th ranked Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The Raiders went through the motions against Baruch and struggled much of the match to establish control. RIV finally found their flow in set four to close out the match. 

In their second match of the day, Rivier came out flying and dominated the play for the first two sets but in set three they were unable to close out a 29-27 lead for a 3-0 sweep. MIT seized the momentum and forced the Raiders to lose their poise and eventually the match.
 
Rivier will pick up conference play on the road with three NECVA matches in four days. RIV starts out traveling to Elms College tonight, 3/17, at 7pm. On Tuesday 3/18, Rivier will challenge Johnson & Wales University in Providence, RI at 7pm. Finally the Raiders will wrap up the week with a 4pm match on Thursday 3/20 against Newbury College in Brookline, MA.
 

Click here for past game summaries.