Volleyball Comes Up Short in GNAC Semifinal, Falls to Rivier 3-0

NASHUA, N.H.—The Anna Maria College volleyball team's historic run came to a close as they suffered a 3-0 loss to the second-seeded Raiders of Rivier University in the Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) semifinals on Thursday evening.

Set scores were 25-18, 25-16, and 25-16.

With the loss, the third-seeded AMCATS conclude GNAC play with a 21-11 record. Rivier improves to 31-3 and advances to Saturday's GNAC Championship match on Saturday at top-seeded Johnson & Wales.

AMCAT LEADERS

Sophomore Amari King (Lawrence, Mass.) recorded a double-double of 14 kills and 10 digs in the defeat. Junior Rebecca Foti (Bedford, N.H.) and freshman Alyssa Goulet (Lawrence, Mass.) both finished with five kills apiece.

Defensively, sophomore Carolina Garcia (Springfield, Mass.) tallied a team-best 15 digs, followed by senior Demi Carrero (Mamaroneck, N.Y.) with 14 digs.

RIVIER LEADERS

The Raiders totaled 43 kills in the straight-set victory, led by Dana Mott with 15 kills and Lauren Silverman with 13. Setter Hayley Macken dished out 35 assists in the win.

The defensive duo of Molly McCormack and Bethany Trevino recorded 16 digs apiece.

This will be the third straight season in which both Johnson & Wales and Rivier will battle for GNAC supremacy with each team splitting the previous two matches – JWU in 2015, Rivier in 2014. Overall, these two programs have battled for the GNAC crown six times since 2002 as they have each taken three titles from each other.

ECAC POSSIBILITIES

The AMCATS will now await a bid to the 2016 ECAC tournament. Seeding for the tournament will be announced early next week.