Sydney Racevicius helpd lead the Rivier women's volleyball team to victory on Saturday in Springfield, Mass. (Photo courtesy of Rivier University)

Two Rivier University athletic teams were in action on Saturday, with mixed results. However, history was made, as new women’s volleyball coach Jeff Costa earned his first victories at the Raider helm:

WOMEN’S VOLLEYBALL

RAIDERS TAKE TWO

Rivier took two matches to complete their season opening trip to Springfield 2-1, as they got a pair of 3-0 wins over Skidmore and Westfield.

The Raiders spread the wealth this morning with seven student-athletes recording a kill in a 25-7, 25-9, 25-22 sweep of Skidmore. Topping the board was Sydney Racevicius and Cadia Greene. Racevicius finished with 11 kills along with a match high ten digs. Greene racked up nine kills with four digs. Avery Pollard shelled out 29 assists, four digs, and three kills.

In their second match, the Raiders swept Westfield State, 25-17, 25-12, 25-14.

The Raiders found their grove offensively as they hit for an impressive .412 as a team. Lily Sills dominated on the attack, racking up 16 kills with just one error. She completed the match with a .750 kill percentage.

Cadia Greene continued to be an offensive threat with another nine kills. Riv scored 19 points on service aces this afternoon, with eight of them coming from Sofia Pawlusik. Avery Pollard reached 30 assists in this one to go along with her two kills and five aces.

Rivier women’s volleyball will be back in action next Saturday when the Raiders host the season’s first tri-match in the Muldoon Center, with action starting at 11 a.m.

FIELD HOCKEY

Rivier field hockey fell 1-0 against New England College on Saturday at Don Melander Field in Henniker in the Raiders’ season opener.

The home team finally broke through with just 15 seconds left in the second quarter when NEC sophomore midfielder Taylor Bailey took a short pass from senior forward Drea Chin and finished for her first goal of the season.

After a scoreless third quarter, NEC practically lived on the offensive side of the field in the fourth quarter, dominating with 16 shots and eight penalty corners in the pursuit of the insurance goal. Nevertheless, 1-0 would hold up for the final.

Rivier junior goalkeeper Olivia Boucher of Berlin finished with 17 stops in a heroic effort for the Raiders. Rivier was outshot 33-7.

Rivier hosts their home opener on Thursday evening when they face Albertus Magnus College in GNAC action at 7 p.m.