NEW LONDON, N.H. – March 26, 2019 – The Colby-Sawyer men's volleyball team was defeated by Rivier, 3-0, in Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) action Tuesday evening. The Raiders, who are ranked 14th in the latest American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA), won by scores of 25-17, 25-12 and 25-7.

Prior to the match, Colby-Sawyer recognized the three seniors on the first-ever men's volleyball program. Marc Flaherty (North Reading, Mass.), Yannick Gonsalves (Oak Bluffs, Mass.), and Aquiles Marcano (Lebanon, N.H.) were honored.

Rivier improves to 17-7 overall and sit atop the GNAC standings with an 8-0 record. The Raiders travel to Regis on Saturday for a GNAC tri-match with the Pride and Johnson & Wales. Colby-Sawyer drops to 7-12 overall and 0-10 in conference action. The Chargers play at Emerson on Thursday at 7 p.m.

The Raiders received 10 kills apiece from first-year Kristjan Cortez (Fremont, Calif.) and first-year Sokunbuth Ly (Lowell, Mass.) Ly hit .600 and had eight aces, while Cortez hit .500. First-year Jack Normandin (Clifton Park, N.Y.) added nine kills on .636 hitting.

Junior Patrick Coffey (Westford, Mass.) led Colby-Sawyer with six kills. First-year Orlando Plagata (Los Angeles, Calif.) finished with three kills, nine assists, two aces and a block. Flaherty collected five digs. Gonsalves and Marcano each contributed a kill.  

The teams traded the first four points, before Rivier used a 5-1 run, capped by a Ly kill, to take a 7-3 lead. The Chargers battled back to tie the set at 8-8 and again at 9-9. Zach Allen (Candia, N.H.) had a big solo block in the run to get Colby-Sawyer back in the set. The Raiders then began to click on offense and finished the set with 10 kills on .438 hitting.

The visitors got off to a hot start in the second set and took an 8-2 lead after a Ly ace. The Chargers' attack tried to keep pace with the conference's leading hitting team, but Rivier finished the frame with 13 kills on 20 attempts. Coffey had four of Colby-Sawyer's seven kills in the set.

Rivier cruised in the third set behind strong serving from Ly. He had five aces in the set. The Raiders finished the match with a .484 hitting percentage.

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