Raiders Race Past AMCATS in Men’s Volleyball

Paxton, Mass. – The Anna Maria College men's volleyball team was downed by #6 Rivier University 3-1 in Great Northeast Athletic Conference action on Tuesday evening at Fuller Center.  Game scores were 25-10, 21-25, 25-13, 25-16. With the win, the Raiders improve to 18-5, 6-0 in GNAC action while the AMCAT fall to 1-9, 0-5 in conference play.

Anna Maria senior Jonathan Gallardo (Marlboro, Mass.) led the AMCATS with 10 kills, 2 assists, and 2 digs, while freshman Michael Gaudelli handed out a match-high 26 assists with 7 digs and three kills. Peter Griffenkranz (Deer Park, N.Y.) added eight kills.

The Raiders were paced by junior Matt Tutino(Manorville, NY), who placed a match-high 13 kills, while teammates Matthew Ortiz (Los Angeles, Ca) and Matt LaSance (Madison, CT) combined to dish out 31 assists.

Down 1-0, Anna Maria took set two 25-21, never trailing in the frame. With a slight 3-2 lead, Anna Maria would reel off four straight points on Ty Disco's serve to open a 7-2 advantage. Rivier would counter with a 9-6  run to cut the deficit to 13-11. AMC responded with a kill from Jonathan Gallardo, a Michael Goncalves (Milford, Mass.) ace and a pair of Raiders errors to push the score to 16-12 and force a Rivier timeout. The Raiders battled back to cut the difference to 20-19, however Anna Maria finished out the string with a kill from Peter Griffenkranz for the win.

Anna Maria hung tough in the fourth set leading 3-2 after five points. In the middle of the frame the Raiders would break the game open with seven straight points with sophomore Mike Hadder (Yupica, CA) on serve, extending the advantage to 17-7.  Anna Maria couldn't close the gap to less than ten points as Rivier cruised to the 25-13 win.

Rivier finished off the match with a set four 25-16 win en route to the 3-1 final.

Anna Maria returns to action on Saturday afternoon when they host GNAC opponents Lasell and Mount Ida in a tri-match starting at 11:00 a.m.