WOMEN'S VOLLEYBALL: GNAC Tournament Quarterfinal Summary

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Courtesy of Rivier Athletics Communications

NASHUA, NH: The Rivier women's volleyball team defeated the Monks of Saint Joseph's College this evening in three straight sets to advance to the semifinals in the Great Northeast Athletic Conference volleyball tournament.

HOW IT HAPPENED:
-  The Raiders came out swinging this evening. In just three sets, the hosting squad put down 37 kills with just eight errors. Those numbers gave Rivier an impressive .453 kill percentage for the match.
-  The Raiders success followed the hitting ability of Sydney Racevicius (Woodbury, CT), who finished with the match high of 13 kills and a match high in service aces with eight. Of course, every hitter needs a good set, and Avery Pollard (Ballston Lake, NY)delivered those all game. She totaled 35 assists through the three sets.
- The Monks had a hard time finding their stride early. They finished with just 14 kills with 18 errors. Olivia Kent led the offense for St. Joe's with five kills.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS:
Kills: Rivier 37, SJC 14
Assists: Rivier 37, SJC 14
Digs: Rivier 35, SJC 15

UP NEXT:
Rivier women's volleyball will now host Regis College in the GNAC semifinals this Thursday at 7 PM in the Muldoon Center.

Courtesy of Simmons Athletics Communications

BOSTON – Simmons volleyball (19-6) is moving on to the Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) semifinals following a five-set, 3-2, victory over the seventh-seed Lasell University (16-13), Tuesday evening.

Sophomore Claire Conners led three Sharks in double figure kills, notching 17 kills on 37 attempts for a .378 attack percentage, while senior Krissy Lloyd followed up, hitting .417 with 12 kills on 24 attempts. Junior Sydney Iannantuono rounded out the trio in double digits with 11. 

HOW IT HAPPENED
Set 1: Simmons 25, Lasell 12
Hitting .462 as a team, Simmons took the 1-0 match advantage, taking the first set, 25-12. Lloyd was four of nine from the floor, while sophomore setter Kat Simeonidis paced the offense with 11 assists.

Set 2: Lasell 25, Simmons 22
The Lasers answered in the second set and evened the match at 1-1, edging out the Sharks, 25-22. First-year Camila Lopez was flawless from the floor tallying five kills on eight attempts for a staggering .625 attack percentage.

Iannantuono led Simmons, hitting .375 with four kills on eight attempts, while also notching 10 defensive digs..

Set 3: Simmons 25, Lasell 11
The Sharks returned to form offensively, posting a .393 attack percentage to win the third set, 25-11, and re-gain th4e 2-1 match advantage. Conners was nearly perfect, registering seven kills on nine attempts, while Simeonidis set the tone with 11 assists.

Set 4: Lasell 25, Simmons 23
But Lasell was not going to back down and tied up the match once again, edging out Simmons, 25-23 in the fourth set. First-year Juliana Medini posted a .833 attack percentage, notching five kills on six attempts, while Lopez led the defense with seven digs.

Set 5: Simmons 15, Lasell 6
Simmons shut the door on Lasell in the fifth and final set, hitting .700 as a team and sealed the match with a 15-6 win. Sophomore Jordan Hacker ignited a 7-1 run with a pair of aces to pull away from the Lasers. Conners, Fortune, Iannantuono and sophomore Jayla Parnell were all perfect from the floor in the fifth set. Parnell tallied a set-high three kills, while Conners followed up with two.

SIMMONS HIGHLIGHTS

• The Sharks posted a .700 attack percentage in the final set, registering eight kills on 10 attempts with one miscue.
• Sophomore outside hitter Claire Conners hit .378 on night tallying 17 kills on 37 attempts and just three miscues.
• Senior middle blocker Krissy Lloyd registered a .417 attack percentage with 12 kills,while Sydney Iannantuono followed up with 11.
• Sophomore Kat Simeonidis registered her eighth double-double of the season, tallying 10 digs while paciing the offense with 44 assists. 

UP NEXT
Simmons returns to floor, hosting third-seed Johnson & Wales University on Thursday, Nov. 5 at 7 p.m.

Courtesy of JWU Athletics Communications

PROVIDENCE – The No. 3 seeded Johnson & Wales Women's Volleyball team defeated the No. 6 seeded Elms Blazers 3-0 on Tuesday night in the Quarterfinals of the Great Northeast Athletic Conference tournament. 

The early portion of the first set saw the teams trade points, with neither side able to open up a lead.  After trailing by two at 7-5, JWU went on a 10-5 run to take a 15-12 lead, forcing Elms into their first timeout of the set.  Out of the timeout, JWU continued their run, this time going on a 7-2 run to take an eight-point advantage at 22-14.  Elms tried to mount a comeback, but three kills from Peyton Oliver (Ramsey, N.J.) closed out the set. 

In the second set, the Wildcats held a 6-5 lead before a 5-1 run caused a timeout by Elms with JWU leading 11-6.  Out of the first timeout, JWU continued their run scoring five of the next six points to take a 16-7 lead, with Elms taking their second timeout of the set.  Out of the timeout, the teams traded points with JWU eventually taking the set on an Oliver kill, 25-16.

Using the momentum from the two previous sets, the Wildcats opened up a 10-5 lead in the third set behind two kills from first-year Masina Tupea (Aeia, Hi.), playing in her first postseason match.  Out of the timeout, the team traded the next 14 points with the Wildcats taking a 19-12 lead.  After a late push from Elms, JWU was able to close out the set 25-19 on a kill from Sarah Miller (Scarborough, Ontario.)

The Wildcats move on to the semifinals on Thursday, and will travel to Boston, Mass. to take on the No. 2 seeded Simmons Sharks. 

Courtesy of Regis Athletics Communications

WESTON, Mass. – After splitting the first two sets with fifth seed Norwich University, fourth seed Regis College continued to play tough defense both at the net and in the backline, taking the next two sets to defeat the Cadets, 3-1 (25-21, 27-29, 25-14, 25-10), Tuesday night in the quarterfinals of the Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) Women's Volleyball Tournament at Higgins Court.

Rita Dow (Nashua, N.H.) led the Pride with 10 kills and a .421 hitting percentage, plus she earned six total blocks, while Kate Montigny(Shrewsbury, Mass.) collected nine kills and a season-high 11 total blocks, the second-highest individual single-match total in program history. Emily Fagundo (Dover, N.H.) notched a double-double with 18 assists, including the 1,000^th assist of her career, and 13 digs, while Ahnasia Mckinney (Chelmsford, Mass.) also posted a double-double with 15 assists and 14 digs to go along with eight kills.

The two teams exchanged several small scoring runs in the opening set before Regis rattled off a 9-3 scoring run to open a 16-12 advantage. Down 20-15 after consecutive Pride blocks, the Cadets scored five unanswered points, capped by a kill from Kathryn Farnum and a service ace by Addison Hall, to tie the set at 20-20. Regis responded by scoring five of the final six points of the set, featuring two kills by Montigny.

Norwich opened the second set with an 8-1 scoring run, including consecutive kills by Hall and a service ace from Julia Schroeder. The Pride answered right back with seven straight points to tie the set at 9-9, and then the two squads once again went back-and-forth with the momentum.

After a kill by Leah Matthewson gave the Cadets a 24-23 lead, the Pride scored the next two points to create their own chance to end the set. A kill by Montigny tied the set at 27-27, but consecutive Regis errors allowed Norwich to clinch the second set and tie the match at one set apiece.

The Pride opened a 7-2 lead in the third set and then, after a service ace by Julia Dorr brought the Cadets within three at 8-5, rattled off a 9-1 scoring run, capped by a service ace from Kamdyn Tenorio (Irvine, Calif.), to extend their advantage to 17-6. Norwich scored three straight points near the end of the set, but Regis closed out the set with its own 3-0 run on kills by Tenorio, Fagundo, and Mckinney.

Led by two kills apiece from Dow and Kai Berning (Corvallis, Ore.), Regis jumped out to a 7-1 lead in the fourth set, but Norwich quickly closed its deficit to two at 9-7. The Pride finished off the set and the match with a 13-1 scoring run, featuring three kills apiece from Montigny and Berning and punctuated by a service ace from Mica van der Meulen(Colorado Springs, Colo.).

Tenorio finished with six kills, three service aces, 16 digs, and five total blocks, while Valerie Whalen (Stoughton, Mass.) contributed eight kills and seven block assists as the Pride finished with 17 team blocks, just a half-block off the single-match record of 17.5 team blocks set 10 years ago. In the backline, van der Meulen collected a team-high 17 digs along with eight assists and three service aces, and Tyler Wax(San Diego, Calif.) added 13 digs to the winning effort.

The Cadets were led by Hall with 11 kills and five total blocks, while Kathryn Farnum accumulated seven kills and 15 defensive digs. As a team, Norwich posted a negative hitting percentage (-.018) as its nine-match winning streak was snapped to end its season with a 15-7 overall record.

Regis (23-7) will travel to top seed Rivier for a GNAC Tournament semifinal match Thursday, Nov. 4, at a time to be announced. The Raiders swept Saint Joseph's College Tuesday night to advance to the semifinals.