NASHUA, N.H. – Sydney Racevicius and Lily Blodgett combined for 21 kills as Rivier University ran away from the Keene State College women's volleyball team 3-0 (25-14, 25-14, 25-19) in a non-conference match Tuesday night at Muldoon Gymnasium.
Records
- Keene State: 15-11
- Rivier: 17-5
How It Happened
Winners of nine consecutive matches coming in, the Raiders used a 9-1 run in the opening set to turn a one-point edge into a 21-12 lead, and that proved to be the story of most of the evening as the Owls scored three consecutive points just two times and never led by more than one at any time in the match. In the midst of a 10-3 start to the season, Keene State opened their home slate with a 3-1 victory over Rivier to improve to 6-2, winning 25-20, 23-25, 25-20, 25-17 while recording 48 kills, 15 of which came in the opening set. However, they have now dropped eight of their last 13 and finished with just 21 spikes total on this night while being limited to .061 hitting or less in all three sets and a season-low .032 for the match. Rivier made just two attacking errors in a 25-14 win in the opening set where they hit .375 compared to the Owls' .000 (six kills, six errors), and KSC could not answer back in the second frame, quickly falling behind 9-4. The closest they came after that was four (11-7), at which point the Raiders scored six of the next eight on two kills apiece from Blodgett and Cadia Greene to go in front by eight (17-9). Racevicius pushed the lead into double-figures again at 22-12 to force a KSC timeout, and the Raiders were well on their way at that point, winning by 11 for the second consecutive set.
The Owls nudged in front by one four different times very early in the third as they looked to get back into the match, but an ace and kills from three different people helped Rivier open up a four-point lead and made KSC call for another stoppage down 9-5 and 2-0 in sets. The Raiders' advantage never fell below three again. After Sills' kill put her team up 14-9, three consecutive errors by Rivier brought the Owls within 16-13, but it was short-lived, as Blodgett put down three kills and Racevicius one other in a five-point span to balloon the gap back to 20-14. A pair of late swings by Sills brought up match point at 24-18, and she ended it herself with an ace, which also became a theme of the evening as the Raiders posted a wide 14-2 edge in aces. Six of them came from Avery Pollard, who also had 30 assists and 11 digs. Racevicius led Rivier with 11 kills and Blodgett had 10. Sofia Pawlusik had a match-high 14 digs. The Raiders finished with a .264 hitting percentage, 86 points higher than they did in their loss at Spaulding Gymnasium on September 14. Their plus-12 advantage in aces was also a stark contrast to the first meeting, where KSC finished with a 15-7 edge in that category.
Elizabeth Johnson led Keene State with five kills.
Kacie Blanchet posted 18 assists and five digs, while
Reagan Fleming returned to post 10 digs, but Rivier overall was plus-14 in that category.
Service Aces
- Keene State had lost by 10 points in a set twice all season before falling two times in a row by 11 tonight.
- The Owls have a slim 15-13 edge in the series, but have lost five of six in Nashua and 10 of 13 overall. Two of those victories, including one on the road, came in the 2017 season.
Up Next
- Keene State travels to take on another GNAC opposition, this time Elms College (17-7, 9-3) on Thursday, October 28 at 7:00 p.m.
- Rivier, who is unbeaten in GNAC play and in first place, looks to wrap up the regular season league title on Saturday (October 30) when they host Lasell University (13-11, 5-5 GNAC) and Dean College (4-19, 1-10 GNAC) in a tri-match (11:00 a.m./3:00 p.m.).
