Nashua, NH - #8 Rivier College (4-0 GNAC) improved to 18-5 on the season with a pair of wins against Ramapo College and Lesley University. The Roadrunners now stand at 9-8 overall.

In the first match of the day senior Jared Andreozzi recorded a double double to pace the Raiders over the Ramapo Roadrunners in a tight 3-2 victory. The 6'4 outside hitter put down 25 kills and scooped up 10 digs while also dialing up 2 ace serves and 2 blocks. His 1541 kills makes him the all time leader for Rivier in a career.

The match was a battle from start to finish with a total of 36 tie scores and 9 lead changes. Rivier had a 15-13 advantage in set one before Rivier senior opposite John Furka went on a 7 point service run to give the Raiders a little breathing room. The Raiders closed the set out 25-18 after an Andrew Balint service error.

Set two saw Rivier build a 4 point lead at 11-7 only to have Balint go on a 4 point service run for the Roadrunners to tie the game at 11. Rivier setter Steve Visentin went on a 4 point run of his own to push the Raiders ahead again at 16-12, but after a few sideouts by both teams Ramapo junior Colin McNeill rattled off 6 straight points which included 3 Rivier hitting errors and one ace to put the Roadrunners on top 17-15. After a back and forth battle over the next couple points the Roadrunners held a 23-20 advantage, but a 3 point run by the Raiders, including two kills and a block by Andreozzi, tied the game at 23. After a kill by Andrew Brown to give Ramapo a 26-25 lead an attack error by Furka ended the set with the Roadrunners on top 27-25.

McNeill went on another 5 point service run in set three to give Ramapo a 17-14 lead, but the Raiders chipped away and got multiple points from 4 of the next 6 servers to pull in front and come away with a 25-23 win. The fourth set was in favor of Ramapo from start to finish. Even though Rivier tied the set at 16-16, they never quite got comfortable. Paul Konopacki and Jeff Jones each recorded 4 kills and the Roadrunners hit .294 as a team to take a 25-21 win and force a 5th set tie breaker.

The deciding set was once again a tough battle, with each team matching the other point for point and Rivier taking an 8-7 lead at the side switch. A Kill by Rivier's Taylor Lindner on the next play gave the Raiders a 9-7 advantage, but was instantly nullified after Andreozzi was blocked by McNeill an Konopacki two plays later to tie the game at 9-9. A service error by Balint and an attack error by McNeill on back to back plays gave the Raiders their two point advantage back and a kill by Lindner pushed the score to 12-9 and the Raiders were able to trade points until game point when Lindner served at 14-11 and a huge solo block by Furka ended the set and the match with the Raiders on top 3-2.

Rivier setter Steve Visentin dished out 55 assists while serving a match high 3 ace serves. The sophomore also tallied 5 digs and 3 blocks. Sophomore middle hitter Taylor Lindner and senior opposite hitter John Furka both registered 10 kills and 3 blocks and junior defensive player Andrew Paine had a team high 11 digs. Junior's Drew Corwin and Chris Convertito combined for 14 digs and freshman Aaron Almario had a match high 6 blocks.

Ramapo was led by freshman outside hitter Jeff Jones who notched a team high 22 kills and added 1 block. Teammate Paul Konopacki added 13 kills and a team high 5 blocks and Andrew Brown chipped in with 10 kills. Setter Andrew Balint had 56 assists and libero Kevin McNerney lipped up a game high 15 digs.

The second match of the day pitted Ramapo against Lesley University. Ramapo controlled most of the match, taking the first two sets by scores of 25-17 and 25-16. Set three proved interesting as the Roadrunners had a match high 12 hitting errors and allowed the Lynx to stay close. Ramapo ended up pulling out the set and match with a 29-27 win.

Jeff Jones led the Roadrunners with 12 kills and just 2 errors for a .500 hitting percentage and freshman Brian Colabella added 9 kills in the win. Setter Mike Hrehovcik dished out 32 assists and three Ramapo players each picked up 5 digs.

Lesley was led by senior Zach Almeida-Beers who picked up 6 kills and 6 blocks in the loss. Max Hoevenaar added 4 kills while the setting tandem of William Lau and Stephen Siragusa combined for 17 assists.

The Roadrunners return to action on February 23rd when they travel to Sage College for a 7:00PM match.