NASHUA, N.H. – September 16, 2023 – The Dean College women's volleyball team split a pair of matches to open the Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) slate. After falling to Rivier 3-0, the Bulldogs outlasted Mitchell 3-2.

Dean (2-8, 1-1 GNAC) returns home to host GNAC foe Colby-Sawyer on Wednesday at 7 p.m. Rivier goes to 3-2 overall and 1-0 in the GNAC, while Mitchell drops to 2-5 overall and 0-1 in the conference.

RIVIER 3, DEAN 0 – 25-19, 25-10, 25-13

Senior Sari Albury (Nassau, Bahamas) led the Bulldogs against Rivier with seven kills. Sophomore Skylar Raskevitz (Easthampton, Mass.) led all players with a game best 15 digs to go with three aces. Senior setter Bella Driscoll (Plymouth, Mass.) finished with 11 assists and eight digs.

DEAN 3, MITCHELL 2 - 25-19, 24-26, 25-20, 12-25, 16-14

Junior Janai Price (Providence, R.I.) paced the Dean attackers with 10 kills. She also dug up 22 balls. Albury finished with eight kills on .219 hitting, six blocks and three aces. Sophomore Caitlin Cooper (Amherst, N.H.) hit .353 for seven kills to go with five blocks. Raskevitz tied a career high with 32 digs to lead all players. Driscoll posted 32 assists and 11 digs.

The Bulldogs trailed 19-16 in the first set but rattled off nine straight points, capped by an Albury ace for the 25-19 win.

The Mariners were leading 24-22 late in the second before a Price kill and an attack error pulled the Bulldogs even. Mitchell was able to get two kills in a row to close the set 26-24 and tie the match.

Dean rallied to lead for most of the third set and take a 2-1 lead after a 25-20 victory.

In the fourth, it was Mitchell who controlled the net to post 14 kills and cruise to a 25-12 win and knot the match at 2-2.

The final set featured nine ties. The Bulldogs faced match point at 14-11 but fought back to tie the score at 14-14, thanks to a pair of Deanna Dice (Grants Pass, Ore.) kills. Junior Rae Edwards (Westfield, Mass.) then recorded one of her three aces to give Dean a match point. On the ensuing rally, Dice came up big again with the match-clinching block.