Rivier's Tyler Dickinson fires a kill past Elms' defense during Tuesday night's match at the Muldoon Center. (Courtesy photo by Kyle Prudhomme/Rivier Athletics)

NASHUA – Paced by an 11-kill performance from sophomore Tyler Dickinson, the Rivier men’s volleyball team cruised past Elms in a Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) matchup in the Muldoon Center on Tuesday night in straight sets.

Rivier improved to 10-14 (5-7 GNAC), winning by scores of 25-11, 26-24, 25-13. The visiting Blazers fell to 6-20 (3-8 GNAC).

The Raiders got out to an 8-4 lead forcing the Blazers to call an early timeout. Leading 17-11 later in the frame, Rivier rattled off eight straight kills to take the set in convincing fashion. Junior Matthew McCloskey led the team with six kills at a .857 clip.

The second set was highly contested with 11 tie scores and seven lead changes, but the Raiders prevailed in the late stages to take a 2-0 lead in the match. Dickinson recorded three kills on four errorless swings to hit .750 in the second.

Elms called a timeout trailing early in the third as back-to-back aces from first-year Cade Barron made it 8-3 in favor of the Raiders. Rivier’s lead ballooned to 10 with a seven-point swing to make it 16-6, forcing Elms to burn their final timeout. Up 23-13, sophomore Aidan Combs registered a kill and a service ace on back-to-back points to close the match. Dickinson was 5-for-5 in the third to round out his impressive outing.

Dickinson recorded a team-high .846 hitting percentage with one block assist to his credit as the team finished with a .429 team percentage. McCloskey ended up with nine kills at a .667 clip while first-year Cody Fitzpatrick posted six kills at a .625 percentage. Barron pitched in with 20 assists, seven digs, six kills, and two aces. Camara tied Barron for the lead in digs with seven. Sophomore Justin Barish posted 15 assists and two aces in the victory.

Rivier returns to action on Wednesday, April 2 for a non-conference road clash at No. 2 Springfield. First serve inside Blake Arena is scheduled for 7 p.m.

SOFTBALL

RAIDERS SPLIT WITH KEENE

The Rivier softball team split a non-conference doubleheader with Keene St. on Tuesday evening at the Melissa Bisaccia Memorial Softball Complex.

With the results, the Raiders now hold a 6-10 record. The Owls sit at 9-5 overall.

The Raiders return to the diamond for their Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) opener against Anna Maria on Saturday, April 5. First pitch is scheduled for noon at the AMCAT Softball Field.

Rivier 8, Keene St. 4

Rivier began the contest drawing three walks to load the bases, but a swinging strikeout got Keene St. out of the early jam.

The Owls countered the early pressure from the Raiders in the bottom of the second inning, scoring two runs on four hits.

Keene St. remained out in front as both squads went scoreless through the third and fourth innings.

Rivier broke through in the top of the fifth inning with six Raiders recording hits in succession before the first out was recorded. Back-to-back singles from junior Hayley Rapaglia and senior Courtney Marioles began the Raider rally before graduate student Hannah Muchemore added an RBI double to center field to cut the Owls’ lead to one. Junior Avry Nelson continued the hitting frenzy with a base-clearing double to right field, giving Rivier a 3-2 lead. Junior Oliva Couto added a single to third base to the book and graduate student Kayla Miles tallied an RBI double to left field to extend the Raiders’ lead to 4-2. With two outs in the inning, junior Kylee Caetano capped off Rivier’s six-run inning with a two RBI double to right center, increasing the Rivier lead to four runs.

Couto and sophomore Hayleigh Silva propelled Rivier to a six-run lead in the top of the sixth inning. Couto’s sacrifice fly brought home Marioles to put the Raiders ahead by five runs and Silva’s bases loaded walk put Rivier ahead, 8-2.

Keene St. put up a fight in the bottom of the seventh inning, rallying for late runs, but came up short in the end, with Rivier taking game one.

Five Raiders recorded two hits at the plate in game one. Marioles, Muchemore, and Miles each went 2-for-4, while Muchemore and Miles contributed an RBI each. Rapaglia added a 2-for-3 day at the dish with two walks and a run and Couto went a perfect 2-for-2 with a walk of her own.

Sophomore Hailey Berube went the full seven innings in the circle, striking out three Owls allowing just two runs.

Keene St. 14, Rivier 10

Rivier picked up right where they left off in the top of the first inning in game two. Sophomore Hayleigh Silva began the inning by drawing a walk. Junior Hayley Rapaglia and senior Courtney Marioles registered back-to-back base knocks for the second time in both contests to load the bases. With two outs in the inning, Nelson hit a base-clearing double to give the Raiders a 3-0 lead.

Keene St. answered on a fielder’s choice in the bottom of the second inning. The third inning came and went with seven total batters appearing at the plate for each program with the score still 3-1.

A base knock from graduate student Kayla Miles helped the Raiders regain their three-run lead. Silva brought in junior Olivia Couto for another run on a sacrifice fly to left field to make it 5-1. Rapaglia added a two RBI double to right field to give Rivier a 7-1 lead. Marioles contributed an RBI double of her own to cap off the scoring for the Raiders, giving the guests a seven-run lead.

Keene St. continued to chip away at Rivier’s lead in the bottom half of the fourth inning. A double from Kalee Keyser brought home the Owls’ first run of the inning. Keene St. cut the lead to four runs on a single up the middle off the bat of Abby Weiterman.

The Owls kept the bats hot in the bottom of the fifth inning to cut away at the deficit. An RBI single up the middle brought Keene St. within one run, 8-7.

Marioles and graduate student Hannah Muchmore each recorded hits in the top of the sixth inning to pull away from the Owls and take a 10-7 advantage. In the bottom half of the frame, Keene St. exploded for seven runs on seven runs and a Rivier error to earn the 14-10 victory.

Marioles led the Raiders offensively in game two, going 3-for-4 at the plate with two RBI and two runs each. In the circle, she contributed 5.1 innings posting one strikeout.

BASEBALL

DEAN 9, RIVIER 5

The Rivier baseball team fell to Dean in Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) action at the Longely Athletic Complex.

Rivier, the designated home team in today’s contest, fell to 6-12 (1-4 GNAC) while the Bulldogs improved to 6-13 (3-2 GNAC).

The Raiders used a sacrifice fly from senior Kyle Hsu in the bottom of the first inning to take an early lead. Rivier doubled its lead in the fourth as senior Luis Tejada extended his hitting streak to seven games with an RBI single.

Dean tied the game at 2-2 in the fifth with a two RBI single off the bat of Colin Favata. The Raiders retook the lead in the bottom half of the frame as senior Jacob Boudreau crossed the plate on a throwing error as classmate Owen Medlock took second base on a steal to make it 3-2. Rivier’s lead was extended back to two runs as Hsu knocked in his second run of the game with a single.

The Bulldogs went on to score seven runs over the sixth, seventh, and eighth innings to hop in front, 9-4.

In the bottom of the ninth, senior Ben O’Connell pushed in one run in a Rivier comeback bid that fell short.

Boudreau went 3-for-5 at the dish, scoring three Raider runs. Hsu went 2-for-3 with a pair of runs batted in and a walk.

Senior Nate Bonacorsi got the loss after tossing 6.2 innings, allowing five runs (three earned) on eight hits and a walk while striking out three Bulldog batters.

Rivier is slated to return to the diamond on Saturday for a GNAC clash at Mitchell. First pitch from Alumni Field is scheduled for noon.